Heart of Darkness: sequel to Perchance to Dream!
by Eveshka
Summary: Lina and Zelgadis discover a cavern of ruins that tells of a demihuman race that lived long ago. But when they least expect it, something goes horribly wrong... and even Zelgadis' new abilities may not protect them. COMPLETE 7.30.2006 Sequel coming soon!
1. Chapter 1

Heart of Darkness  
Chapter 1  
  
She stood there, shell-shocked. He was gone. Just like that. Gone.  
The hallway was dark, and she staggered back into the little room they had shared that had seemed so cozy, so safe. Now, it felt empty, foreboding. His presence was missing, and it chilled her to the bone. She made it to the edge of the bed, collapsing onto the mattress, and the reality of the situation hit her.  
She was alone.  
She was stranded in the Outer Continent.  
And, for all that she was, for all the powers she had in the world, she was terrified.  
  
Far away, on the other side of the world, two eyes snapped open, and a young man sat up in his bed. Something had happened, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It had to do with his brother, and how he knew that, only he would know. But he had very little doubts that Something Had Happened, and no small amount of damage control was about to become his current job.  
Damn. Just when he had started to enjoy his vacation.  
He whispered a word, and suddenly he wasn't alone in the room. A silken voice replied in a query. A question was asked; an answer was given. He didn't like the answer, and he glowered as he climbed out of the bed and pulled a pair of black pants on, tucking his shirt into the waistband.  
He grabbed his cloak off of the nearby chair and flipped it around himself, vanishing out of the room.  
  
The room where he arrived was dark. It took a moment for him to reorient himself, to sense the layout, and as he did, a voice filtered into his awareness. It was a choked and pathetic little sound that threatened to break his heart. That voice, which had been so powerful in his ears not too long ago, had no business being that... broken. Cursing himself for being right yet again, he moved across the room, towards the voice, whispering her name, bumping up against what felt like the edge of a bed.  
He heard her choke, then pause, and he heard her gasp his name in return. Her hand flashed past his, and he caught it, pulling her to him, hugging her tightly because he knew that was what she needed. The fear radiating from her was enough to feed several Mazoku, and he wondered absently where a certain one of them was.  
She clung to him, sobbing, unable to form words. But he knew. He knew it all. He could sense it. Drawing his cloak around her, he gave her little words of comfort before he cast a spell and they vanished from the room.  
  
It was entirely too early for someone to be knocking on the door to her room.  
Amelia stumbled out of the bed, wobbling on unsteady feet as she padded across the lushly carpeted floor of her room and opened the door to blink blearily at Jedah, who was incongruously fully dressed for three in the morning. The look on his face was enough to bring her fully awake, and she looked at him, blinking. "Jedah? What's happened?" A beat later, and she saw that he was carrying a seemingly unconscious Lina Inverse. "Lina?!" She opened the door fully, following Jedah as he walked in and gently placed Lina onto the bed.  
He tugged at Lina's gown to straighten it to her feet, looking at her for a moment before turning to Amelia. "I had to spell her to sleep. Something has happened to Zelgadis... I felt the shock all the way to here."  
Amelia's eyes immediately turned to the silent redhead lying on her bed. "Oh no... do you have any idea what happened?" She moved to the bed now, an almost protective hand resting on Lina's shoulder. Even through the sleep-spell, she could feel the redheaded sorceress' shock and pain.  
"I have a good idea, but we need to hear it from Lina to confirm. Amelia... this could be a lot more dangerous than anything that anyone here has faced before..." And may also reveal some truths that I didn't want revealed yet... he thought.  
Amelia nodded as she looked to Lina. "It happened in the Outer Continent... Jedah..." She looked to the youth, concern in her eyes. "Can you tell where he is? You once said that no matter where he went... you could find him..."  
He didn't want to meet her eyes, didn't want her to see what might slip out from behind the carefully constructed mask. "I..." he sighed and looked away, shaking his head. "I have a vague impression. But I know that it's not anywhere that I can go, Amelia."  
Amelia sighed and nodded. "I think we ought to let her sleep... she's not likely to go back to sleep easily once she wakes..." She reached across and pulled the sheets up across the sleeping sorceress.  
Jedah smiled gently. "You're so kind, Amelia. Take my room tonight, and I'll stay here to make sure that she stays safe."  
Amelia turned, looking to Jedah for a moment, searching his eyes. A quick smile flashed across her lips, and she reached out and caressed his cheek lightly. It always made him blush, and true to form, he blushed again. "Send for me when she wakes, no matter what time."  
She won't wake until I let her... "I'll do that. Now you go get some sleep," Jedah reached out and gently turned Amelia to the door. He squeezed her shoulders and watched her slip out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her, as if she might wake Lina.  
He sighed and turned back to the sleeping sorceress. She wouldn't wake unless he broke the spell, and he hated to lie to Amelia. But there was no way that Lina would sleep on her own after what he suspected had happened. And she needed to sleep. The longer he could keep her sleeping, the longer she could heal, and the longer he had to find out what precisely had happened.  
He sat by the bed, looking at her still form, and absently brushed a strand of her hair out of her face as he thought over what he had sensed. The feeling that had woken him was not unlike the feeling that hung around the Mazoku Xellos.  
If that was the case, then they were all in a lot of trouble. 


	2. Chapter 2

Heart of Darkness  
Chapter 2  
  
Lina stretched languorously, reveling in the feeling of just being able to relax and stretch.  
A quarter of a second later, anyone passing by the room was treated to a very fervent and indignant squeak.  
"Zel!" Lina squeaked while looking at him petulantly. "I was stretching!" She folded her arms and looked at her companion, who was nodding.  
"You were," he replied without trace of remorse.  
"Well, that's no excuse to tickle me!!" Lina retorted in a huff, sliding off of the bed.  
He shrugged. "You were there. It was the thing to do at the time."  
Lina looked out of the window and across the water for a moment, letting the matter rest. "It's been a week..."  
"It has," he acknowledged, running a hand through his hair, watching her.  
"So what do we do, Zel? Should we wait for them?" She asked, turning back to look at the black-clad man who had been her entire life this past week.  
He smiled faintly. "There was a note at the desk." He held up the envelope and showed her. She reached out and took it, reading the carefully written script.  
"Lina and Zelgadis, I unfortunately must inform you that my father will not approve of any visits by myself to the Outer Continents until safety in travel can be guaranteed. In the meantime, you must send word back that you are well and tell us of everything you see. Amelia."  
She set the letter down on the bed and looked to him thoughtfully. "This means we're still on our own, Zel..."  
"We are," he conceded, "unless my brother decides to take matters into his own hands."  
Lina's eyes grew faintly alarmed as she folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. "Would he do something like that? Kidnap Amelia, I mean?"  
"Oh, I doubt that he'd kidnap her... though he is a very smooth talker, and I have very little doubt that he could talk Prince Phil into allowing them all to travel out here, on the expense of the Palace." Zelgadis said, crossing the room and opened the window, leaning on the windowsill to look out and allow some fresh air into the room.  
Lina laughed softly. "Yes, he is a charming little devil, isn't he? How in the world did you manage to be so grouchy with him around?"  
Her voice was teasing, and he knew that he deserved it. He had been pretty cantankerous when they'd first met. He turned around, resting his elbows on the windowsill and looked at her. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, the ribbon forgotten for the moment on the bedside table.  
"He's always had a special place in my life... which is probably why he gets away with so much around me." He smiled at some memories that filtered up through his consciousness, that somewhat rare playful smile that graced his lips only when he thought no-one was looking while they were all traveling together.  
"Mmmmhmmm," Lina said, standing and walking over towards him. Her hair fell down, off of her shoulders and tumbled about to her waist. It distracted him, and he watched guilelessly as she approached. "And do I have a special place in your heart, too?" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, and he pulled her forwards into an embrace.  
"Well, yes. But just because you have a special place in my heart doesn't give you entire sway over me, Lina," he whispered into her hair.  
She tilted her head, looking up at him with wide and all-too-innocent eyes. "What? Who said I wanted anything, Zel?"  
He smirked. "You always want something, Lina. And the fact that you just sauntered across the room in nothing but one of my shirts indicates that you're after something and you want to distract me into agreeing."  
She sighed, half turning in his arms, looking away with eyes downcast.  
"Pouting won't get you anywhere, either," he pointed out, gentle teasing in his voice this time.  
She spun to face him again, giving him that look that he'd gotten used to seeing over the past week. It was the half-irritated, half-amused look that she'd given him the first time that he'd seen through her. "Zel!" She fumed. "You haven't even heard what I want!"  
He backed her up to arms' length and grinned at her. "You want to go down to the ruins of that old area that all the villagers are so tight- lipped about."  
A miniature fireball puffed in his face, not big enough to singe hair, but enough to make him blink. As such, he let go of her, and she backed up out of reach. "Hmf! You're no fun, Zel! Think of the treasures that might be in there! We might even find an old spellbook or something!"  
Waving the smoke out of his face, he looked at her. "We might find something bigger than the both of us, Lina."  
She stopped ranting, and in all seriousness, looked at him. "Zelgadis, what could possibly be bigger than you? If you truly are on a par with Xellos..."  
He shook his head. She was going to win this one, wasn't she? She'd managed to back him into that gray corner that represented what he was, what he was capable of. And yet, neither of them truly knew.  
"Lina, that's not fair. We don't know what I can and can't do yet. I still don't have perfect control over some things..." He hadn't told her that he woke in the middle of every night, to force himself back into his human appearance. He'd spent so long as the stone golem that it was a more familiar shape than not.  
She sighed and turned away. "We can't know until you try..."  
Damn her, she was good at twisting his heart.  
"Fine," He relented. "We'll go check out the ruins. But when I say we leave, we leave. Even if I have to pick you up and will us both out of there."  
"Yay!" The word fairly bubbled out of her, and she danced over to hug him delightedly.  
He hugged her back and then looked at her with a smirk. "Now I'm going to go get a table for us at the restaurant while you get dressed." He disentangled himself and left the room, wondering how he would ever be able to tell her 'no' and mean it. 


	3. Chapter 3

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 3

            The ruins weren't all that far from the town. In fact, the entrance to the caverns was right there on the beach, and tourists walked past without a thought. If one never stopped to ask what was within, one would never have known that there was once a race of demi-humans that were reported to live within the walls of those caverns.

            Lina's purpose of visiting the ruins, of course, was treasure. And where once, Zelgadis would have searched for a cure, now he was admiring the technical architecture. The entirety of the subterranean caverns were supported by architectural achievements and not magic. Zelgadis found them fascinating. Lina was bored to tears.

            He was busy sketching out a particularly intriguing archway when he heard the silence that usually meant that Lina was up to no good, or had found something and was nose-deep in it. Either way often meant trouble.

            Putting pen and paper down, he stood, brushed the dust off of his black pants, and headed deeper into the ruins, all the while thinking that he really should have packed some of his old tan pants for the trip. It was going to be hell to get the dust out of this pair.

            Far off, down the hall, he could see the eldritch light of her magic, and he used it to guide himself down some nearly invisible stairs and into the room where he could see her flopped out on the floor, poking at some set of runes carved into the stone. Raising an eyebrow, he walked over to the sorceress. "What have you found?"

            Lina tapped a rune with her fingertip. "Well, this is very similar to the language used in the Claire Bible. There are a few changes… but I think this was a temple to someone known as…" She traced a few symbols with her fingers as she read them. "The Demon God Grau." She paused, looking up at Zelgadis. "Grau? You don't think that it means Grausherra? As in Dynast?"

            Zelgadis folded his arms and considered. "It's entirely possible. If that's the case, what does it mean?"

            "Well, we know that up to a certain point in time, Dynast was a fairly influential force. But after the battle with Zanafaar, Dynast pretty much vanished from our records.  Beyond that, there's very little that we know."

            Zelgadis sighed, rolling his eyes. "And that's a lot of help."

            Lina shrugged, looking back at the runes. "Maybe that's where this comes in. Maybe this is where he was before, and there's more to his history here…" She continued to read, paused, re-read a section and then looked up at Zelgadis. "I can't concentrate with you standing there!"

            It took a great deal of self-control to not roll his eyes again, but Zelgadis managed to smirk instead, and as he turned back to the hallway, he cast a light spell so that he could see his way back. "Don't start messing with too much, Lina. Try to keep the magic to a minimum, okay? We don't know what's down here. Remember Ishii."

            It had been her magic that had inadvertently started the cataclysm in Shigai no Ishii. They'd been lucky that Amelia had been able to overcome her fear and counter the rampant black magic. She didn't have Amelia around now. She had Zelgadis. And, when she gave it a passing thought, she couldn't imagine much that would present a challenge to him.

            Granted, she didn't give it too much thought. If she had…

            There was a loud clatter, and the redhead looked up from the runes on the floor rather irritably. "Honestly! How can a person work with all that noise?" She scrambled to her feet, the eldritch ball of light following her as she moved to the doorway. "Zelgadis…?"

            A quick glance about the hallway showed it empty, so she walked carefully over the broken floor-stones and looked up the stairwell. "Zel…?"

            There wasn't an answer, so she climbed the stairs and froze when the hallway came into sight.

            Zelgadis was crumpled on the floor, his stepladder turned sideways beside him.

            With a little cry, Lina darted up the last few stairs, moving to his side with fear in her throat. At her touch, he stirred, opening his eyes and looking at her in embarrassment. "I think I reached too far for the ladder to hold me."

            She sighed in angry relief. "Why didn't you levitate?" He sat up slowly, accepting her offered hand for stability.

            "I don't want to use too much of my magic down here, Lina. We don't know what might react to our spells. I have a bad enough feeling about this place as it is. I don't want to do anything that might draw attention to our presence if there is something lurking down here," he replied testily.

            Lina sighed. "Zel… I know you're worried, and I know that you're concerned about the possible limits of your abilities… but you fought Xellos one-on-one and managed to win."

            Zelgadis slammed his hand onto the floor, making Lina jump. "That's not it, Lina! I was as good as dead for three days after that battle. What happens to you? What if I overextend myself again while fighting off something and I end up cataleptic for another three days? What happens to you while I'm out of it? I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you!"

            This profession of concern left a strange uncertainty in the air, and after a few moments of silence, Zelgadis sighed. "It's late. Let's go get some food. We can come back in the morning and pick up where we left off."

            Lina nodded, and allowed the ball of light at her shoulder to dissipate as they both stood and headed for the entrance.


	4. Chapter 4

Heart of Darkness  
Chapter 4  
  
Dinner was a subdued affair, his earlier words still ringing in both their ears. He hadn't meant to sound so angry... hadn't meant to upset her. But if anything happened to her... He knew that he could survive most anything, but she was mortal. He knew that she'd died once, and it was only by the good grace of the Holy Tree of Flagoon and Sylphiel's expert wielding of magic that had resurrected the redheaded sorceress. And as they had neither pure Holy ground, nor a full Cleric nearby, he knew that anything that might seriously injure Lina was good to steer clear of.  
And that included that damned cave.  
"Look, Lina... I was thinking..." Zelgadis started, cutting his steak into smaller bites than hers.  
"I know what you're going to say, Zel." Lina said after swallowing a mouthful of meat. "And I guess you're right. I mean, I'm not all that powerful in the grand scope of things. It's not like I'm a Chaos Knight or anything. I'm lucky to be able to control the few Chaos spells that I do know... and we know how much it took to destroy Shabranigdo. Dark Star was completely out of my league. If it hadn't been for Xellos and Filia..." Her voice trailed off and she pushed a few grains of rice around on her plate. "Dynast... if it is Dynast... wouldn't be that strong... but I doubt he's here. Before dinner, I went back through the books. The last known place that Dynast was bound was in the frozen north... close to where we found Galbeda."  
Zelgadis considered. "Either way, there is something reasonably nasty in that cave... and that makes it all the more important that we don't go poking around in places that have things better left alone. We don't know what's out here: this part of the world hasn't been explored in far too long." He picked up his goblet of wine and studied it for a moment before tasting it. It wasn't too bad, considering.  
Lina slid down in her chair. "I just hate it when you're right, Zel." She scowled at the steak on her plate for a moment, and then sat up to return her attentions to it. "So what do you suggest we do instead?"  
Zelgadis set the goblet down and looked thoughtfully around the restaurant. A thought came to his mind, but he set it aside for now. "I'm not sure. The local library showed some promise, but I know that you would lose your mind cooped up with books all day."  
"Tell you what, Zel," Lina said around a mouthful of steak. "I'll spend the day relaxing on the beach and you can read every book in that library."  
Aquamarine eyes narrowed. "Oh no, you won't, Lina. The entrance to those ruins is on the beach, and we're not going back there." He pushed his plate away in irritation. "I'm not falling for it, Lina." Her eyes had grown round and an air of 'who me?' had formed around her. "You're not going back, and that's final."  
Lina sighed and slumped in her chair. "It's not fair, Zel."  
He looked wearily across the table at her. "What's not fair, Lina?"  
The tines of her fork chased a fragment of steak as she sulked. "You see through me so fast. It's just not fair."  
This time, it was his turn to sigh. Her eyes flickered up, and she saw the emotions written in his eyes. "Lina... I can't stand to think of you somewhere you might get hurt. Remember how you told me once that when you were sword-practicing, when you thought of me, you stumbled?" She nodded, and he continued. "Well, that's how I feel when I think of you in those caves. And if I stumble when you need me..." His voice trailed off.  
Lina stood, pushing her chair back. "Come on, Zel. We'll leave town tomorrow. The ruins aren't that important."  
  
Night fell, a velvety black quiet dazzled with silvery stars as they walked back to the hotel. They walked in silence, listening to the waves beat up against the nearby rocks, and he drew Lina a little closer to him as they went. It was such a peaceful night, the air was warm and the breeze was light, just the right climate for walking on the beach...  
No.  
Zelgadis shook his head, clearing all thoughts of the beach. Something was wrong. There was something down there in those caves that wanted them to go back there. Something... or someone. As they entered the hotel, he paused at the desk and settled the bill. They were paid out through the morning, and they'd be able to leave early.  
The sooner, the better.  
  
He'd managed to talk Lina into turning in early, so they could get a head start on the morning, but a sound woke him in the middle of the night. Lina had gotten out of bed. There was another sound, like the hotel door opening-!  
"Lina?" Zelgadis rolled out of the bed, the light spell snapping into existence without any real thought given to it. She was out in the hallway, barefoot in her white nightgown, walking in her sleep. It took no imagination to realize where she was headed, and he took off after her.  
He caught her halfway down the hallway and grabbed her arm, spinning her around, the sudden shock of motion waking her. "Lina! Snap out of it! You're sleep-walking."  
Her eyes widened, and first she looked at him, and then behind him. He registered it almost as soon as she did. It was a feeling quite like Xellos, and he pushed Lina back, spinning to see a dark shape reaching for him. Summoning his powers, he shot spells into the darkness, watching them vanish as if they'd never been cast. Something cold grabbed him, flung him into the air, and he heard her scream his name, saw her running towards him.  
And then, there was nothing but cold blackness. 


	5. Chapter 5

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 5

Morning dawned on the city of Saillune, a brilliant sunrise casting yellows and pinks across the white buildings. On most mornings such as this, the younger Princess of Saillune could be found perched in a window, watching the morning bloom into the promise of a beautiful day.

But not this morning.

This morning found Amelia wil Tesla Saillune standing outside the door to her bedroom, along with Jedah Graywords, conversing with her older sister in a hushed voice. Naga had very nearly screamed loud enough to wake the entire castle when she'd knocked on her sister's bedroom door and Jedah had answered. It had proven most awkward until Amelia had staggered out from the room on the other side of the hall and blearily asked her sister what all of the commotion was.

It hadn't occurred to Amelia to ask why Naga's strangled holler hadn't woken Lina. Nor did she think to wonder why Naga hadn't shouted longer than she had.

For that, Jedah was thankful. He knew, however, that he couldn't keep Lina asleep forever. Indeed, her own magic was working to wake her, probably a protective spell that she'd crafted for just such emergencies. He'd have to allow her to wake soon, and then it was bound to get… interesting.

With an inward sigh, Jedah reached out and tweaked the spell, allowing the tight magical hold to slip. Sure enough, it was the opening that her spell was looking for. Suddenly, Lina Inverse and the rest of the palace awoke with a very loud bang.

Jedah and Amelia burst through the door of Amelia's room to find Lina sitting up in bed, looking at them in terror. Naga stood in the doorway, ready to divert any and all of the palace's security guards who may have heard the noise. Amelia wasn't sure what had made the banging sound, but it had been decidedly successful. Several seconds passed, and Amelia took command, seeing Lina staring at her in shock.

"Lina… it's us. You're in Saillune. Jedah brought you here last night…" her voice trailed off and she glanced over to the young man as if to ask him how he had done just that, but there was such a sheer desperate look of 'don't ask me that' in Jedah's eyes that she filed the question away for later and looked back to Lina. "Lina…?"

Lina's eyes were wide, and for a moment, Amelia felt as if she was going to watch the redheaded sorceress retreat into herself again. But then Lina blinked, and awareness crept back into her crimson eyes. "Amelia… Jedah…" Completely against anything that Amelia had ever seen in Lina, the sorceress burst into tears.

There was a movement next to Amelia, a quick motion that was caught back by Jedah, who had moved as if to comfort Lina, but realized that it wasn't his place to do so. Hiding a smile at Jedah's sweet tendencies, Amelia moved forward and put her hand on Lina's shoulder. "Oh, Lina…" It wasn't fair, Amelia decided. Lina and Zelgadis had every right to be happy, and every time she turned around, one or the other was hurting. Sure, Zelgadis wouldn't show it, but Lina had hurt him deeply when she'd pulled her vanishing act way back when. But now, she was certain that Zelgadis hadn't left willingly.

Naga glowered at both Amelia and Jedah, giving her sister a not-so-gentle shove as she sat down beside Lina on the bed and pulled the sorceress towards her. Lina crumpled, sobbing, against Naga, and Amelia blushed inadvertently at the glare in Naga's eyes. Jedah saved her from having to say anything, however, by tugging at her sleeve and pointing to the door. Silent, the two walked out into the hallway, the door swinging shut behind them.

Amelia stood helpless, looking back at the ornately carved wooden door as Jedah leaned his arm up against the wall and then rested his forehead on the back of his hand. For a moment, she was oddly struck at his resemblance to Zelgadis, and that brought her train of thought back to the missing older brother. "Jedah… what do we do?"

He stood back up, looking at her with guarded eyes. "We don't do anything right now, Amelia. 'We' can't." He looked off behind her, towards the guards that peered anxiously down the hall at them. "Lina will have to react, and get through to the point where she can help us. She's no good to anyone like that," he tilted his head to indicate the room they had just left. "Naga's good for her." He turned and leaned his back against the wall. He hadn't slept at all, instead feeling around his network for information while watching over Lina all night, and it was starting to take its toll on him.

"I hadn't realized that Grac-Naga was so close to Lina…" Amelia said quietly, still looking at the door sadly.

"We're all close to each other, Amelia. We just show it differently," Jedah said, and Amelia turned at the edge in his voice.

"Jedah…? Didn't you sleep at all last night?" She asked, noting how pale and drawn his face looked.

He opened his eyes and looked upwards toward the ceiling. "No… I didn't. I was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to my brother."

"You go rest. I'll send word to Sylphiel and Gourry in Sairaag. No doubt they will want to come help, and maybe by the time they get here, Lina will be able to tell us what happened," The worried young woman was replaced by the Princess who could take charge when she needed to. She'd have a courier set out at once, as fast as he could for Sairaag. But when Jedah didn't move, she looked at him, surprised.

His eyes had slipped closed, and he was sound asleep against the wall.


	6. Chapter 6

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 6

It was cold and dark. Rather a lot like that time when he had woken to the candlelight within the hidden chamber in the Palace of Saillune.

Except that, now, it was beyond dark.

He blinked, trying to see if his eyes were really just still closed, but no. It was dark.

He was flat on his back, and so he sat – or, rather, tried to sit. Something was holding him down. His arms were pinned, as were his legs. Every sense, every level of awareness attempted to flicker into life.

There was nothing.

He may as well have been blind and mind-numb. For all of his suddenly new-found abilities, he was as helpless as a baby. The only ability that seemed to be working was his preternatural hearing. As he listened, silvery whispers became clear, but he couldn't quite make out what was being said… if there were words at all. There were suggestions of words, but nothing that he could understand. As he strained to make some sense of the noises, his befuddled brain started piecing things together.

Where was he? How had he gotten there? Where was Lina?

Memory flickered.

Lina.

He saw her, in his mind's eye, barefoot in her nightgown, reaching for him.

What had happened to Lina?

A light came on overhead, blazing brightly into his eyes, making them tear and close instinctively against the painful brilliance. If he could have lifted a hand against the light, he would have, for the radiance seared through his closed eyelids. But bound as he was, he could not move. He gritted his teeth, grunting at the brightness of the light, trying to close his eyes even tighter against the light.

"Oh good. You're finally awake."

He cracked an eye slightly open at the soft female voice, braving the painful light in the hopes of glimpsing whoever had spoken. He couldn't do much more than turn his head from side to side… and she was directly behind him. He couldn't see her at all.

"Who are you?" He growled, his one eye glaring daggers up at the bright light, tears stinging from both eyes and threatening to spill down the side of his face. "What do you want with me?"

She laughed, a low and throaty sound, echoing within the strange room. "Why, Zelgadis… I want you of course..." With those words, she walked around to his side, and he could see that she was not unattractive. Taller than Lina, and brunette, the woman smiled when she saw that he was looking at her. "I want your power."

"My power?" He asked, anger rising in his mind. He'd been taken from Lina because of what he was? He wasn't anything, hell, he didn't even know what he was anymore. He wasn't a Mazoku, for that would have required a Pact, but he certainly wasn't the chimera that he used to be.

He frowned. Chimera. His skin was blue, stony, and no amount of focusing was changing that. "What have you done with me?" He snarled, angry that he could be so helpless when he himself was capable of matching Xellos in a fight, fair or unfair.

She laughed, a strangely dark sound in the brilliant room, and a distant part of him noted that his eye was getting accustomed to the light, which in all truthfulness, wasn't that bright. Reluctantly, he opened his other eye, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in his skull from the light. It would fade as he grew used to the light.

She didn't answer him right away, and when she did, she didn't reply to his questions, instead, continuing along her earlier line of thought.

"The source of your wonderful power, of course, is Shabranigdo." She circled around him, eyeing him as if in appraisal. "You see, dear boy, you possess a link to the Dark Lord that we can only dream of. That Lina Inverse isn't worth your time or ability. You'll see."

Shabranigdo. Now he knew that he was in trouble, and she was a lunatic… or worse. He certainly wasn't affiliated with Shabranigdo. He'd have known it long before now if he was… Xellos would have told him in that infinitely annoying fashion of his. Wouldn't he?

"So let me suggest that you put all thoughts of Lina Inverse aside, and stop trying to be what you aren't: Human," her voice continued, even as he turned his head away from her, rejecting what she was saying and trying to focus on Lina. If he could focus enough… maybe he could vanish from here and go back to her side. Maybe he could escape this madwoman – something, some power slammed down around him, the magical deafening knocking coherence aside for a moment. At that, something inside him awoke, a latent ability perhaps, inhuman in nature and almost as wild as his Mazoku aspect had once felt.

He strained against the power that was holding him in place, feeling the anger rise and the very center of his existence start to darken. She was his; after such a very long time, she was his, and nothing would keep him from her! Nothing! A darkness awoke, power crackling around him, counterpoint to the power that still held him fast.

Lips curled. "Oh no, you won't get away that easily." She sent another wave of power towards him, eyes dark with amusement. "You don't get it, do you, child? You don't belong there."

In his mind, he could still see the panic etched in her eyes, see her red hair streaming loose as she ran towards him. Her voice still echoed in his ears, and when the darkness within him washed up towards his awareness, he reached for it.

A low growl rose in his throat, his eyes darkening from a crystalline blue to a near-black, and as he turned his head to look at her, she smiled.

She'd let his soul darken until there was no trace of his former humanity left, and then she'd send him back. Send him back to betray them all.


	7. Chapter 7

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 7

Naga, the White Serpent, erstwhile Princess of Saillune, destroyer of cities and all-you-can-eat buffets sat on the edge of the bed; an arm wrapped around Lina Inverse and sighed. In all of her madcap and rampant adventures with the redheaded sorceress, the busty brunette had never once considered that the fiery temptress of disaster would ever fall in love. The thought that she, the oldest daughter of Sailune would be sitting on a bed in her father's palace, consoling a completely distraught Lina Inverse had never even remotely crossed her mind.

But here she was, doing just precisely that.

And, oddly enough, she was finding that she was good at it.

"Lina, we'll find him. I promise you. We're not just going to let Zelgadis vanish like that," Naga said softly, patting the sorceress's arm. "Besides, he's pretty powerful in his own right… certainly he'll be able to hold his own until we can get to help him." Granted, Naga knew that she was being entirely too confident, and a distant part of her wondered if she had managed to out-do her sister with that declaration of optimism over this… and she still knew little to nothing about it.

"He'd be back by now," Lina replied, her voice flat and emotionless for all of her tears. She didn't lift her head, didn't move to look at Naga. She simply sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over and staring at the floor with dull eyes.

"Well, maybe he's waiting for you to come rescue him!" Naga said, and then sighed at herself. "Okay, enough of that fake overly cheerful crap. I can't handle it any more than you can. Look, Lina… we'll all do our best to get him back. I don't know how, but we will."

"We _will_ get him back," retorted a sharp and firm voice from the doorway, and it was enough to make Lina look up from her study of the pristine oak floorboards.

Jedah stood in the door, dressed in black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt that was open at the collar, his hair pulled back from his face, those eyes that were so similar to Zelgadis' glittering brightly at both girls. As he entered the room, he moved across to kneel at the foot of the bed. As he looked up at Lina, he continued. "I swear to you that we'll get him back, Lina. I have some friends working on it. With any luck, we'll know where he is very soon now."

Scarlet eyes narrowed at the youth, but she looked away without saying anything, leaving Jedah to lift his eyes to Naga in concern, who sighed with a slight shrug.

"Lina…" Jedah sighed. There were times when the adorable boyish persona simply wasn't appropriate. This was, beyond shadow of a doubt, one of those times. And so it was that when Lina looked back at him, she was surprised to see how very much like his older brother he seemed, the same slight quirk of his mouth, the same shape of his eyes… Her own eyes widened, and she looked away all too quickly, again seeing Zelgadis pulled into that darkness, swallowed by the night in that hallway so far away.

"I… I know that you want to help, Jedah… but… I just don't see how you're going to be able to help. Zelgadis…" her voice caught at his name, but she forced herself to continue, "Zelgadis said that you don't have any base magic of your own…"

He smiled a gentle sort of smile that held a great deal of secrets hidden within it. Of course, they were secrets that he didn't particularly feel like divulging at the moment, so he chose an answer that would placate, but not educate. "Lina, I'm just going to have to ask you to trust me in some things right now. I can't tell you a whole lot right yet…" he paused as he noticed Naga staring at him. "What?"

Naga leaned forwards and looked Jedah straight in the eyes. For a moment, she was reminded of a certain purple-eyed Mazoku, and the chilling suspicion that Xellos had taken on the appearance of Jedah had planted itself into her mind. "Who are you?"

Crystalline blue eyes looked back in return. "Jedah."

Naga snorted, leaning back. "You aren't the Jedah that I've been watching flirt with my sister Amelia. _He_ doesn't know how to be serious. You, on the other hand, could give that damnable Mazoku Priest a run for his secrets."

As if she had summoned Xellos by the mere mention of him, the purple-haired irritant on two feet materialized in the room, staff in hand. "It is as you feared, Lord—"

Before the Mazoku could finish his sentence and ruin it all, Jedah silenced him with a lift of his hand. He had little doubt that's precisely what the pain in his side of a Mazoku had intended to do… but the stage was not quite set to Jedah's desires. They didn't need to know. Yet.

Violet-black eyes opened, turning a dark glare against Jedah, but Xellos closed his mouth. He could drop enough hints later. By the looks of things, Naga was already suspicious and questioning. With a self-satisfied smile, he gave Jedah a sardonic little half-bow and vanished from sight.

"What was he saying, Jedah?" Naga asked, keenly aware that Lina had withdrawn into herself and had most likely missed the entire arrival, exchange, and subsequent departure. But Naga hadn't. She'd heard what Xellos had said… and not said. She also knew better than to think that Xellos aided anyone of his own free will. So if Xellos was aiding Jedah... by what means had Zelgadis' somewhat mysterious little brother managed to bind Xellos into such behavior? Naga's blue eyes narrowed as she watched Jedah as he seemed to consider what to say.

Finally, Jedah turned a strangely hooded gaze to Naga, "I know where Zelgadis is."


	8. Chapter 8

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 8

He was standing in that old city ruin, staring out over the destruction that he had wrought upon the inhabitants within. It startled him to find himself there. Why was he back? He'd accepted the Mazoku Aspect, accepted the abilities and the past that came along with it, so what had drawn him once more to this fragment of memory?

He turned, looking this way and that, seeking the Mazoku, yet not finding him. Of course. His aspects of Self had merged, hadn't they? The Mazoku was himself.

A flicker of red hair in the distance caught his attention, and he ran after what could only be Lina.

She waited, watching, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he relinquished all will to the baser emotions, opening the path for her to twist him into doing her desires. She was patient; she could wait for the precise moment.

The door to the room opened, and she glared over to the intruder. "What?" She snapped, golden eyes narrowing. "I left specific instructions for no-one to bother me."

The silver-haired woman knelt, lowering her head and allowing her hair to fall over her face. "My Lady, I come with urgent news."

"Spit. It. Out." She hissed, furious that she should be interrupted. Timing was crucial, and she didn't dare mess this up. One slip, one mis-step and the chance to twist his soul beyond anything recognizable to Inverse would be forever lost.

"Xellos Mellatium was seen outside, my Lady. He has been in the company of Lina Inverse, and he is fully capable of sensing anyone within our compound. If he has sensed the presence of your… guest…"

She hissed in unbridled anger, golden eyes flashing with a hot glittery glow. "Go. Find that miserable Mazoku and report back to me where he has gone. I will seek out Zelas and see what can be done before that General-Priest can make himself even more of a nuisance than he already is. Oh, by Shabranigdo, sometimes I wish I understood Beastmaster."

The silver-haired woman bowed her head even lower, and vanished from sight.

So. Mellatium was working with that Greywords brat. Not that he needed any help from anyone, but it was very interesting to note that little… inconvenience.

"Your friends must think that they can just come get you at will, but you and I know better, don't we?" She purred at Zelgadis, watching his eyes darken as his natures threatened to split and turn on each other in war. Oh, she knew what held him together, knew that what unified could also be used to drive apart… and the driving apart would rend his spirit and free the darker power within him. After that, control would be a simple matter. And once she had control, all of his power would be hers.

"Let… me… go!" He rasped, his voice a harsh thing of stone against stone, a dry scrape of syllables forming sounds that barely passed as words. His voice was alien to himself, and he fought all the harder to break free of the restraints.

She frowned; he was stronger than she had accounted for. A wave of her hand, and the Lina in his mind danced back into being, promises of endless dreams trailing along with her in the cityscape that she had created.

He fought the illusion for a long moment, and then fell prey to it once again as her spells wove thicker and thicker about his mind, falling still on the raised platform, his eyes dulled and distant as she smiled thinly and continued to orchestrate the dream by which she would gain control of his soul.

Naga was tired of the cat-and-mouse games, and with a soft pat to Lina's head, rose from the edge of the bed. Luckily for her, Jedah didn't know the eldest Princess of Saillune well enough to recognize the sweetness in her voice as the dangerous venom that it truly was. "Jedah… could I speak to you outside for a moment, please?" Had Amelia been in the room, she certainly would have gone pale at the promise of destruction in that honeyed voice.

Jedah amiably followed Naga out into the hallway, and the moment that the door closed behind them, she rounded on him. "What else do you know, Jedah? What was Xellos coming to tell you? You know where he is, so spill it."

Confronted with the full force of Naga's well-endowed chest (which, even though modestly concealed by a shirt, still bounced abundantly in his face as she spoke,) Jedah found that he could only stand and blink owlishly at her. It was easier than stammering and attempting to hold the illusion of innocence.

"Well, I asked him to do some checking around for me." Jedah said, considering his words carefully. "He can go places that we can't, you see…"

Naga snorted. "Hardly. You and I both know that Xellos doesn't ever do anything without wanting something in return. I want to know what he wanted."

Lina lifted her head and looked at the closed door for a moment, but only fell back onto the bed, staring dully up at the ceiling. All she truly wanted to do was to open her eyes and be back in that little hotel, curled up in the warm bed, wearing Zelgadis' shirt and hearing his breathing next to her.

She'd even trade what little she had managed to translate in that cave to be back with him.

The cave! She sat upright, a jolt of energy flashing through her. All of this had happened right after she'd started the translations in that room of the cave! It couldn't possibly be a coincidence. It just had to be related.

Lina stood, moving across the room and yanked the door open in time to hear Naga challenge Jedah. "Forget what he wanted, Naga. I want to know where he is. I know something that might be of interest to that purple-haired pest."


	9. Chapter 9

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 9

Zelgadis wasn't certain what was wrong. Every time he saw Lina, every time he got close enough to call out her name, she'd take off into the distance again... on foot.

It wasn't at all like her.

In fact, there were several things that weren't like her, now that he stopped to think about it...

Something nearby blew up, and with reflexes born of years traveling with Lina, Zelgadis took off at a dead run to find out what had just happened, no thought at all given to taking to the air, no thought at all of simply thinking himself there.

She snarled. The human turned chimera turned something else wasn't easily falling for her ploy. She'd have to redouble her efforts and find another way to win over her prey.

Or she'd just have to do it the hard way.

A thought, and preparations were being made. She was annoyed that he still thought like a human, but perhaps she could use it to her advantage. After all, humans were ever so much more delicate than chimeras… let alone whatever her prey wanted to call himself. And if he thought that he was delicate, well that would give her an even better edge over him than simple little mind games.

It was time to up the ante.

The little group stood outside of the cave, and Lina scowled as she registered Xellos' grip around her waist.

"Hey."

Xellos ignored her, those deep violet eyes open and staring intently at the cave opening.

"Hey." This time, it was accentuated by a sharp smack to the side of the Mazoku's head. Lina would warn him once, then blast him back to Sairuun if he didn't pay attention.

"Oh, so sorry Lina... I guess that I'd forgotten," with a little half laugh, he released her and looked expectantly back at the cave entrance. "So, then, what is in here...?" He certainly didn't sound as if he knew.

"Some old ruins," Lina replied testily. "If I knew that, Xellos, I wouldn't have invited you along!"

The rest of the group, which consisted of Jedah, Amelia, Naga, Sylphiel, and Gourry, cringed. Lina was being completely unpredictable, and none of them wished to be the focus of her attentions right now. At best, she'd singe. At worst... well, Gourry had lived through a Dragon Slave once. He didn't really want to do it again, and Naga knew all too well what Lina was capable of calling down against her enemies. She wanted no part of that cast upon her, thank you very much. She still shivered at the thought of that beach and the look in Lina's eyes afterwards…

"Miss Lina," Amelia ventured. "Shouldn't we go inside and see what Mister Xellos can do?" She knew it was a bit of a risk speaking up like that, but someone had to do it, and Amelia was counting on her white magic to help save her skin, should Lina be offended.

As Xellos moved away from Lina, moving opposite of where Jedah stood, Lina nodded. Little by little she was becoming aware that there was either fear or at the very least a very healthy respect for Jedah in Xellos' world... and she was pretty certain that it wasn't respect. But she'd get to the bottom of that later. "...Yeah, let's go. But keep the magic used to the barest possible minimum." She'd learned that the hard way, hadn't she?

It was dark inside, and as Zelgadis had taught her, she lit the torch inside by more mundane means, taking a small tinder box out of a pocket in her cloak and setting to work with flint and a bit of metal that she'd thought useless. It still seemed like a waste of time and effort… but.

"Where'd you learn that, Lina?" Naga asked, frowning at the mundane fire. It was much simpler to will the fire into existence, and such an effort put into something so simple was completely alien to her.

"Zelgadis insisted that I learn. It wasn't my idea of the best way to start a fire, but I'll admit, it has its uses," Lina replied, lifting the torch to cast light about the room. Golden-orange light flickered for a moment as the torchlight passed through a breeze, but it stayed lit and the walls around them began to become visible.

"It's much safer to light a torch that way in an unknown place, than to cast a light spell," Sylphiel chimed in, and Lina set her teeth. Yes, she'd established that, yes she'd argued the point with Zel... why did everyone have to say it, even after she'd acknowledged it?

"This is interesting," Jedah said, moving to a set of carvings on a wall. Whether or not they were truly interesting was moot. It It served as a redirect, and Jedah was handy with those. It served to conceal, distract, keep eyes from prying where they didn't need to be prying… and most of all, in this group, it managed to preserve what precious little peace there was. And peace meant sanity. "Can you move the light a little closer, Lina? There's something over here that I can't quite make out." His fingers found a symbol and traced it as Lina, holding the light aloft, approached.

"What is it, Jedah? Do you know this writing?" Lina asked, starting to wonder about the young man who claimed to be the younger brother of Zelgadis. After all, Zelgadis had said that it was a long story… and she'd never quite gotten to the bottom of that. She'd taken Jedah at face value because Zelgadis vouchsafed him.

Jedah took the torch from Lina, and held the light closer to the wall. Fingers traced the symbols deftly, lips murmuring something that sounded like nonsensical sounds, and then Jedah looked up to Lina, eyes wide before he looked back at the wall. "Nope, not one word of it." As the little group fell over, he continued blithely on, cheerfully enjoying the chaos that he had caused by his little joke. "I can read all of them."

It was only Amelia's frantic grabbing at Lina's feet that kept the redheaded sorceress from being able to leap onto Jedah to pound him flat. "Miss Lina, you can't hurt him! He's Zelgadis' brother, and we need him to read the writing!"

"Start reading, Jedah," Lina grumbled as she picked herself up and pried a foot out of Amelia's hand. "I want to know precisely what it is that we're dealing with."


	10. Chapter 10

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 10

He'd fallen. He hadn't been looking where he was running, just watching that long red hair as it danced out of sight ahead of him as he chased Lina through the ruins, and he'd fallen. He'd tried to cast a Ray Wing, but his magic hadn't responded and he'd landed hard on the stones below. By the feel of his impact, it had been a considerably long drop.

The only thing that had saved him had been the stone of his body... stone? What? Thoughts swirled drunkenly in his head as he lay there on the cold stone. He wasn't stone... he was flesh and blood. He'd found the wellspring of his abilities, found the aspects of himself and Become. Hadn't he?

Slowly, it worked into his awareness that it was dark. It was so dark that he couldn't make out the distance from which he'd fallen. All he knew is that he had... he thought. He'd hit his head, that had to be it. He'd hit his head and now he was delirious. How long had he lain here? He'd have to stay awake until his thoughts cleared, until he could get himself safely somewhere. Until someone found him. Would Lina realize that he wasn't behind her and come looking for him? Pale lips parted, and the voice that issued forth was cracked, grated by pain and weak from exertion. "Help me..."

What was wrong with him? Wasn't he some sort of powerful something that they didn't understand? Why wasn't any of that coming to his call now? He moved, tried to lift an arm, but the pain lanced through him, bringing a brilliant white flare to burst behind his eyes. Broken... something was broken. His arm? His hand? He shifted his leg, the same sharp brilliance flaring again. His back… or his neck. He must have hit head-first and broken his neck. He supposed that he should consider himself lucky that he could still breathe. Double-edged thought, that. Call it one small sliver of hopeful thought.

He wasn't much of a healer to begin with, and with his magic so reluctant to answer his command... he spent a moment wondering if there was a high concentration of orihalcon in the area... would he be able to restore enough of his body to get out of here safely? His eyes closed, though he couldn't tell they did. Summoning every ounce of concentration he had, he reached out with his mind, casting the healing spell. A glimmer flickered, and he thought that he could vaguely feel it start to painstakingly knit away the damage, smooth with tender care over shattered bones, nerves and muscle. But it could all be in his imagination.

It was exhausting, holding his concentration so tightly within his mental grasp, just like holding that sword had been that day so many years ago when Rezo found him in the woods. He could feel is concentration faltering, and he wondered how long he'd been working on his injuries. Oh yes, plural, for the first thing that his weakened magic had done was take inventory. Legs, ankles, ribs, left arm, neck... he was disturbingly pleased that he couldn't feel the pain from his broken extremities. Time was slipping away from him, and he wsn't sure if he was indoors, outdoors… it was making him dizzy to think.

For a while, he lay there, simply breathing, simply being. It helped, not concentrating, and he fell into a vague sort of sleep, lying there lost and broken.

_At last_, she thought, watching Zelgadis as he lay there. Oh, it was all in his mind. He was still lying there on the table where she'd placed him originally, but it amused her to see his legs move, his arm try to twitch as he went through the motions that she could see in his dream. She was, of course, what was dampening his magic, catching it with her own spell, drawing it away from him so that he couldn't catch on to her presence and the dreamscape. Soon, she'd enter his dreamworld herself and help him, taking on the role of random wandering traveler turned rescuer, and then she'd make him all hers. With his potential as high as she knew it to be, and the link to Shabranigdo... he'd be the perfect one to provide her with the one who would become the Dark Lord. Oh, no... she didn't want to make him become Shabranigdo. He wasn't good enough for that. And he remaining himself had far more use to her than not... she could use him against the Inverse girl, and then she'd have a bargaining chip against the Cephied Knight.

A twisted smile touched her lips as she waited and watched him try to call his magic to him to heal his perceived wounds. A little of his magic was allowed to trickle back, for there was a delicate balance that she had to play him with. And if she let him think that he was healing himself slightly, well, that would build him up even a little more to be ever so grateful to her when she came to rescue him. There was, after all, no sense in letting him break and lose all hope before she was ready to twist the knife with her own hand.

The door slid open and the silver-haired woman knelt. "My Lady… your request has been prepared. The garden has been converted, and the room is awaiting your… guest."

Golden eyes flickered from prisoner to servant. "Excellent. Now, go, and join that little group with Mellatium and Greywords. Make certain that you do everything in your power to keep them off of the proper trail until the time is right."

"Yes, my Lady. At once."

The door closed, and in the dim light, she smiled.

_Set the chessboard, Jedah Greywords. I'll even give you the first move. Because you won't win. Not when I hold the Black King._

-------------------------------->

Dearest Readers...

Yours Truly is in a bit of a Quandry.

I have three story arcs in Heart of Darkness:

1) Lina's storyarc as she tries to find Zelgadis.  
2) Zelgadis' storyarc in which... yes.  
3) The Question that Everyone Wants To Know: Who the Hell is Jedah.

Given that Chapter 12 is complete (hee-hee!)... here is your chance to tell me what /you/ want Chapter 13 to be. This will be open until Halloween, and will be combined with votes aquired in other forums where this story is posted.

Feel free to post your wish here via review, but please only vote once so there's no stacking of my deck. ;) It's stacked enough with Plot. :) _  
_


	11. Chapter 11

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 11

Lina scowled as she listened to Jedah read the history of the people. Why was it that everywhere she went, the history of the world seemed to be inscribed on the walls? Couldn't they give her something useful for a change? Instead of the same old diatribe about a battle between the Light and Dark, she wanted spells, knowledge... the reason that Zelgadis was whisked away in the dark of the night. She paced, only half listening to what he was saying until something he read yanked her out of her mental ramblings. "What? Read that part again, Jedah. The part about Grau."

"'The Demon God Grau ruled from the land, but she who lived in the water yearned for land and fought him viciously, stealing the lives of those who dared to traverse upon her realm.'" Jedah read, waving the torch across the words. There really couldn't be any doubt who the 'she who lived in the water' could be, but just for the sake of the blonde swordsman (not that it would actually stay in the yogurt that vaguely passed for a brain,) he named her. "That can only be Deep Sea Dolphin, Lina."

Lina nodded, frowning. "But no-one's seen or heard from her in... well, in ages." Her crimson eyes settled on Xellos, who was looking suspiciously innocent, and everyone knew that the more innocent that particular Mazoku attempted to look, the less innocent and more guilty he was. "What, Xellos? You know something, so cough it up."

"I know a lot of things, Lina," Xellos replied, and then actually moved across the room before Lina could make a grab at him. Violet eyes opened, and he hovered in mid-air, regarding the scarlet-eyed sorceress. "At this time, the knowledge is not for you. I will, however, warn you this: you are playing with forces that are bigger than you can possibly imagine." And when he vanished, Lina shrieked in utter and absolute fury.

Jedah's eyes narrowed slightly as the Mazoku disappeared. Leave it to Xellos to play his own game and drop clues, even while under irrefutable orders to behave himself. He'd have to redirect Lina yet again and hope that the damage wasn't too much that he couldn't gloss it over. "We don't need him, Lina. I can read the history and we'll work it out without him. He's a fickle Mazoku with nothing better to do than pull your rope and listen to you scream."

Naga was looking at him. She was becoming more and more suspicious, and little by little, the elder Princess of Saillune was working towards the truth. Jedah could sense it. And he wasn't ready to tip that hand yet. It was bad enough that Xellos had dealt the cards. "Naga, can you do me a favor? It shouldn't be too hard for you, with your magic." Jedah asked, allowing that devastatingly handsome smile to play along his lips.

Amelia fell for it first, and for a moment, Jedah was afraid that Naga wasn't going to. She did, however, smiling back and tossing her hair. "Of course, I can, Jedah. I'm Naga, the White Serpent." Naga said imperiously, and set her hands on her hips. "I can take on any task, big or small!"

"Any task?" Jedah asked, his eyebrows rising, a hint of doubt tinging his voice. "This is a big one, quite possibly one of the most important ones of the day." It made it sound all-fired up important, and considering, it might well be. When he could tell that Naga was fairly bursting to be told, he followed up with: "Can you go arrange for lunch? It's incredibly hard to think on an empty stomach."

Food was third in Lina's heart, right behind Zelgadis and the nearest treasure, and it struck just the right chord, distracting her from her ire with Xellos. "Oh, Naga, there's a wonderful little shop in town that has the best sandwiches. Zelgadis..." her voice faltered, her face falling as she turned back to stare hard at the inscriptions on the wall. "Just... go there for food, please."

Amelia looked at Lina, blue eyes filled with sympathy. _Poor Miss Lina..._ A thought occurred to her, and she looked to Naga. "Come on, Gracia. Let's go see about some food. Mister Gourry, Miss Sylphiel, could you two help us? With all of the food we'll need, the more hands the better."

Gourry nodded amiably, but then Gourry was rarely ever against food. Sylphiel must have caught the thought that Amelia had, for she turned to Gourry brightly. "Let's go with them. It'll take a while for them to get all of that food ready, and maybe we can find a shop for supplies."

The group, not getting any objections from Lina or Jedah, turned and left the two to work on the runes. There was a little bit of squabble over where to eat… whether it ought to be in the caves, or out on the beach, but finally the voices faded away, leaving a quiet peace in the cavern with the runes on the walls.

It didn't last, however. Not five minutes after Jedah had set the task for Naga, Lina dropped all pretense of calm and spun on Jedah, her crimson eyes flashing a dangerous mix of anger and expectation. "All right, start talking."

The picture of innocence turned, looking at Lina with wide and beguiling blue eyes. "I'm reading these as fast as I can, Lina… it's a very old, not to mention dead, language." Jedah had more than a sneaking suspicion that wasn't what she had meant, but if he could just put her off a little longer…

"That's not what I mean, Jedah," Lina snapped, anger sparking in her words. "Enough games. I want to know who you are. Your name may be Jedah, but I don't believe that you are Zelgadis' little brother. And what's more, Xellos is afraid of you. And I want to know why."


	12. Chapter 12

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 12

The town of Ambervale lay within a protective circle of mountains, a peaceful little place that had sprung up within the perfect little valley. Snow melted and formed small lakes which in turn watered the plentiful fields that produced well-fed cattle as well as vegetables and grain for the inhabitants. Generally speaking, it was an idyllic place with picturesque views and room for all. It was, in truth, more village than town, but those who were in positions of prominence were hoping to get a billing as the best little vacation spot around. Ambervale prided itself on being pretty and peaceful.

Which was far from what it was this evening. Shades of amber and orange lit the area, shouts and screams ripping through the shattered buildings and empty husks of fields, echoing off of the rocks in the mountains that reverberated them back like some strange mockery of the disaster in progress below. The watcher sat in those very rocks, eyes fixed on the village below, listening to the utter chaos that had come to town.

Ambervale was on fire, people and houses set aflame by the cloaked figure that was standing atop a tall chimney. By the morning rising of the sun, the entire valley would be a loss, but that wasn't the watcher's concern. What concerned him was the abject raw power held by the cloaked figure, the absolute heavy-handed and blunt lack of finesse that brute-force blew its way through the village and left terror and destruction in its wake. It was somewhat akin to watching someone use a Dragon Slave to kill a bug. While the end result was that the bug was dead... so was everything behind it for as far as the eye could see. It was an overkill that completely lacked in style and class.

Oh, sure, the destruction below was efficient… but in the eyes of a Mazoku, it was practically pointless. You see, mortals were just so short-lived, and there was a finite length to what their pathetic little physical shells could endure. The flip side of that, of course, was their near boundless capacity for emotion. Provided that one wasn't heavy-handed, one could extract whole ranges of fear and anger, some sweet and cloying, others fierce and raw as fire. It could last, with care, the entire natural lifespan of the victim.

What was going on in Ambervale, however, was nothing short of a travesty. Emotions were being squandered, thrown away, wasted without even being so much as tasted. Mortals young and old went up in flames, their meager lives extinguished before they even had a chance to truly feel the fear. It was the worst crime a Mazoku could conceptualize… right up there after all that peace and love claptrap that was tossed about and upheld in the White cities of Saillune and Sairaag.

The temple exploded with a sudden and ear-shattering bang, and the watcher sighed in disappointment. Temples were his favorite. He loved standing in the doorway, drinking deeply of the fear and despair that the followers of Cepheid radiated as they realized that Cepheid was still a mostly-dead god with only barely enough life to empower the Cepheid Knight… who was far more interested in taking care of her tables and customers than a small town in the cradle of the Kaatart Mountains. _Ah well,_ thought the watcher. _I suppose that it's finally time to go take matters into my own hands. I knew I'd have to get them dirty eventually._

Almost reluctantly, the son of Juuou rose from his rocky perch and lifted into the air. He oriented on the cloaked figure, and than began his careful descent, making certain that the other would be aware of his arrival ahead of time. While the chances of him being injured by the other were slim, he didn't feel the need or desire to be fricasseed.

"Well, you're certainly making a fine mess of the disgustingly lovely town of Ambervale, aren't you?" The watcher asked nonchalantly as he alighted near the figure. "Think I could join you?" He kept his voice light, kept the smile on his face, and tried to see into the cloak the old fashioned way. Whoever it was had managed to conceal his Astral presence as if it were second nature.

When the other made no comment or motion to refuse, the watcher turned and cast his gaze down to the village. Ah, yes, there. A lost child. Without moving, without shifting his gaze, he entered her thoughts. Fear, rich and deep ran through her, sending a rippling thrill over him. But it could be better. So very much… better. An ear-piercing shriek escaped from the girl, adding a harmony to the fear, a new depth of emotion opening like a vast and deep lake. Another touch, another probe, and the fragile figure crumpled in the street, the perception of pain lacing through the fears and adding another layer, the three combined far more sweeter than before. It was akin to ambrosia.

He had the cloaked figure's attention; he could feel the gaze as it raked over him. It proved enough of a distraction that he inadvertently killed the child, the emotions draining as fast as if someone had blown out the candle, for in a sense, he had. As the tingle of fear and pain washed away from him, the one who had been the watcher became the watched. He lifted his gaze to the cloaked figure and found that the hood was down, the burning ice cold eyes watching him. Affecting his jovial smile, he sketched a sort of a bow to the figure and decided that it was high time he introduced himself. "Good evening to you, Grandson of Rezo the Red Priest, holder of the power of Shabranigdo. I am the son of Juuou, and I am very pleased to meet you. If I may address you as Zelgadis, then you may address me as Jedah."


	13. Chapter 13

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 13

The ice cold eyes of the one that Jedah had addressed as Zelgadis burned with a cold hotness into the calm light blue ones of Jedah. For a moment, there might have been a flicker of thought, but then the tan figure turned away, as if disinterested. Of course, if that had truly been the reason for turning, it would have meant that Zelgadis had shown an emotion… and Jedah was pretty sure that he hadn't. After all, Zelgadis was being danced like a puppet on a string to a tune that only the puppeteer could hear. He wondered if Zelgadis knew what was happening, but put that thought out of his mind as the puppet began to slowly walk away from him, to begin the descent towards Ambervale and the hysteria within.

Power lanced away from Jedah, a mere fraction of a thought bringing a villager to his knees. If it was a demonstration that would catch and hold Zelgadis' attention, then Jedah was perfectly capable of providing. It was, after all, in part his nature. The man screamed in anguish, each sound wrenched out of him as his lungs were gripped by an unseen force, compressed with each pulse of power that Jedah brought to bear.

The figure in tan paused, eyes fixed on the figure below, watching as if mesmerized.

The man was lifted into the air, his cries of pain mingling with his terror, adding a flavor to the chaos of the fire below like the salt that one adds to a meal at the dinner table. The emotion in the village was rich, heady, and full of ripe potential power for a Mazoku, a mortal's equivalent of the strongest of wines. Jedah would have to be careful, lest he overindulge and become drunk. "You could do this too, Zelgadis. You could become the ultimate Mazoku." It was a lazy comment as Jedah tilted his head sideways to look to Zelgadis.

Once more, Zelgadis turned, walking back up, those iced eyes leveled on Jedah, a harsh and grating voice issuing from perfectly chiseled lips. There was no emotion in those cold blue diamond eyes; no trace at all of the human that Jedah knew was buried in his own horror within Zelgadis' psyche. "What do you want with me, Son of Juuou?"

_I want to free you from your bonds_, whispered Jedah into the mind that was curled in upon itself in horror and despair. _I want to show you to the path that will lead you to your ultimate power._ He could have entered the other's mind, but it pleased him more to see those crystalline eyes widen at the mental caress that formed those words. It was but a thought, and yet, it flowed through the chimera before him, setting off ripples within stone, blue diamond glittering with a strange fire that hadn't been there before. He had struck a chord hidden deep within Zelgadis, Jedah knew. It was only a matter of plucking it hard enough to make it reverberate into a life of its own.

The man in mid-air fell silent, life crushed out of his physical husk. Jedah dropped it as carelessly as he let his arm fall to his side, turning his full attention on Zelgadis. That fire turned into a flicker of emotion in eyes that seemed now more aquamarine than diamond, as if the human within were awakening from a daze, taking back what was his by sheer force of will. Zelgadis staggered, the puppet-strings around him snapping as guilt and awareness flooded through him. He fell to his knees, painfully aware of what he had done, retching on the rocky ground, the bitter taste of bile sharply contrasted against the amber taste of fire in the air. It was enough for Jedah, and he lifted a hand.

Silence settled through the valley, all noise of chaos, all sounds of flame and fear coming to a complete and total stillness. Ambervale sat below them, cold, dead, every inhabitant gone, as if it had been weeks since the fires had burned out. More anguish flashed in those now-aquamarine eyes, and Jedah extended his hand to Zelgadis. "Even in Mazoku, there can be the quality of mercy. Those who yet live will return to normal lives. Come, Zelgadis. Let us go where we can sit and relax and you can recover. There is much to learn, much that we can teach each other."

The human soul trapped in a chimera's body forced himself to rise to his feet, the taste in his mouth as bitter as the feelings in his heart. There was an instant where everything began and ended all at once, and then suddenly, they were Sideways, a subtle shift in reality making both aware that they were no longer outside of Ambervale.

Lush trees blew in the wind, leaves brushing against leaves in a rush of sound and motion. Waves lapped at a not-so-distant shore, adding an undertone to the leaves. Birds called out in musical twitters, one answering the other answering the other in a chain of a musical dance. It was a tropical wilderness, the rich deep scents of untouched flowers flowing in the breeze. It would have been a picture-perfect place to go on a vacation… if it hadn't been for the wolves.

Eleven lanky bodies twisted around the pair, sinew and muscle rippling under grey fur. Occasionally, one paused to lift a black nose to Jedah's relaxed hand, but none of them paid any attention to Zelgadis. He may as well not have been there at all. He didn't look away from Jedah, didn't react to the presence of the wolves. Jedah allowed his boyish grin to curl his lips, allowed his eyes to brighten, and laughed as delightedly as a child might when surrounded by eager playmates. "Now, then. We are on Wolf Pack Island, so allow me to be a gracious host and invite you to my home where you may clean up and we may speak freely over a meal more suited to your taste."


	14. Chapter 14

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 14

There was a light breeze blowing, making his hair dance lightly on his cheek. It was enough of a tickle to lift him from his dreamless sleep, to cause his eyes to flicker open, focus shifting from the moss-covered wall that stretched up high above him. Hell of a fall, that. Little wonder he was lying there, feeling for all the world as if something large and heavy had fallen from a great height. Oh. Right. Something had. Himself.

It nagged at him for a moment. If he was made of stone, then how was it that he was so broken? Memory flashed, somewhere dark and cold, something gripping him with breathtaking force, nearly crushing him in the attack. The memory flashed away almost as soon as it took shape. He must have been fighting when he fell. Was that why he fell? Or had he been thrown to the ground and left for dead? Chasing… he was chasing? Chased? A flicker of red flashed through his mind, taking the intangible memory with it, leaving him grasping a dissolving nothingness.

Zelgadis concentrated, calling that weak echo of his magic to him, using it to sense around and discovering that he had managed to heal very little of the injuries that he did recall. Damn. It meant that he still couldn't get up and walk away. He was stuck here for a while longer. His magic receded, falling quickly into the shadows of his mind as he considered. How long had he been here? Hours? Days? He wasn't hungry, but there was a growing awareness that he was thirsty. He knew the law of threes. Three days without water, three weeks without food… and he wasn't certain how long had passed. Time to go about things a little more mundanely. Hadn't he just been telling someone to do that? Red. Something about the color red… the memory went up in a mental ball of flame, and he cursed himself for trying too hard.

He took several slow deep breaths, aware that he couldn't just lie there unprotected. He had to move, had to at least get himself somewhere that might have access to some water… a puddle or something that would provide some semblance of sustenance as he tried to force his battered body into recovery. His left hand and arm twitched, a blinding white pain shooting through him. He had to do this, had to get to water, so he took a deep breath and ignored the pain, struggling to roll over and onto his side. The pain was exhilaratingly breathtaking, flooding him with energy and yet leaving him feeling exhausted at the same time. He reeled in the strange duplicity of the feelings, the contradictory senses leaving him baffled and disoriented for a moment before he pushed through the swirling emotions and clawed his fingers into the dirt to pull himself along.

It was excruciating, exhilarating, each motion bringing a fresh flash of pain that shot along him like electricity. He clenched his jaw against it and managed to move a few more feet before he had to stop and collect himself. To collapse would mean another indeterminate period of time lost, and the nearest thing that vaguely resembled shelter was still a good twenty feet away. Gritting his teeth, Zelgadis dug his fingers into the ground and pulled, feeling his fingernails bite into the ground, dragging himself along another foot. His hip caught painfully on a rock, and jerked him to a sudden stop, wrenching a hoarse cry of pain from him. It grated a harsh and desperate sound of anguish that echoed off between the buildings.

It had a rather surprising side effect. He felt somewhat better for having yelled, as if somehow, even more of the pain had been transferred to exhilaration by the vocalization.

It had another completely unexpected effect as well, for a feminine voice called out in surprise from the near distance. "Hello? Is someone there?"

A voice? He held his breath for a moment, not daring to hope that he had heard that voice until it called again, uncertainly. His heart leapt. Someone was nearby! Maybe they had water, and could aid… "Here… I'm down here. In a…" Where was he? Was this an old atrium? A garden? "Clearing," he decided, using the exhilaration of pain to his advantage, using the jolt of what he had decided was false energy to reach to pull himself up a little further and free of the rock that his hip had slammed into. He grunted with the effort, feeling the stone of his skin split, the pain shooting up his arm and piercing his awareness. It made him gasp, breathless with that strange duality of sensation.

"I see you!" Her voice came from above and behind him. "By the Great One, what happened to you? Don't move, I'll come help you. Just give me a moment to figure out how to get to you. Hang in there, okay?" There was a clatter, a sound of footsteps accompanied by the sounds of falling rocks as the potential rescuer began to make her way down and around towards him.

He managed to grunt a response, floundering for a moment before he decided to give up and wait for her, whoever she was. What was likely only a few minutes seemed like hours to Zelgadis as he struggled to roll over so that he could look to his rescuer as she approached him. He shifted his weight, putting too much stress on his newly injured hand, and in a flare of white-hot pain it gave way. His arm buckled underneath the combination of strain and pain, and he felt himself fall backwards. Zelgadis groaned as his head struck the hard ground underneath him, vision gone hazy at impact. Haloed by a swirling grey tunnel, a brunette in tan travel gear swam into his view. If she said anything, however, it was lost to the rushing onslaught of darkness as he slipped once more into oblivion.


	15. Chapter 15

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 15

Silence fell. It was a silence that was deeper than that of the lowest ocean floor, deeper than that atop the Great Staff in the Sea of Chaos. It made a simple heartbeat almost unbearably loud, and whispered breath sound like the most raucous of parties. It held them there, caught, turning the moment into a seemingly endless stretch of anti-existence, an indeterminate amount of time in which nothing was everything and everything was nothing at all.

Once more, Lina felt as if her world had been picked up, though this time it had been shaken fiercely, turned on its ear and then plopped back down with such ringing finality that she might spend the rest of her life trying to put the broken bits back together. Or was it that she had sat down upon the floor with a hard thump as the reality of what Jedah had told her had folded down upon her.

Jedah.

Not Greywords.

Metallium.

Greater Mazoku.

Son of Juuou.

Son of the Greater Beast.

_Son of a…_

"You bastard!" Lina growled, emotion ripping her voice raw, her crimson eyes darkening as she glared up at what, for all intents and purposes looked like a very sheepish and rather embarrassed younger version of a human Zelgadis. Never mind that he was far more powerful than she was. He'd lied to her, led her to believe that he was a young and harmless sibling of Zelgadis.

It pissed her off almost as much as the kidnapping and controlling of Gourry by Hellmaster Phibrizo had. Anger crackled around her, the promise of magic swirling around her as she sat there, the power writhing like a thing alive. Lina wasn't Mazoku, but she carried enough Chaos magic within her that she could do a damned good impersonation of one when angered to the point where she now found herself.

Jedah actually found himself taking several steps backwards and lifting his hands in his own defense. "Lina, please! Calm down! I'm sure that the two of us can talk this over… rationally!" He was starting to see why Xellos had a healthy dose of respect for the redhead, to understand why Zelgadis had warned him in no uncertain terms to avoid making Lina angry. She was positively frightening, even to him, and he'd seen his own mother furious.

"Rational!" Lina snarled, getting to her feet and beginning to stalk towards Jedah, her hands coming together to call forth L-Sama only knew what spell she could cast and lob the easiest. For all he knew, it could be the Dragon Slave. Or worse. "You stand there and tell me that you're the son of Beastmaster, a Greater Mazoku, more powerful than Xellos, that you've been lying to me the entire time that I have known you, and you want me to be rational?" Her voice rose on the last word, causing Jedah to flinch. As he did, he spotted Xellos in the shadows, violet eyes open and a sick and sadistic smile twisting his lips. The Trickster Priest was enjoying the show, feasting on the petite sorceress' anger and anguish.

With a sigh, Jedah caught up his powers, his own skills, and allowed a small glimmer of his abilities to become tangible. "Lina, please, listen to me. I'm not here to hurt you, to harm Zelgadis, or anyone else, for that matter!" Except perhaps Xellos. The Trickster Priest certainly would deserve it.

Lina paused, sensing the almost overwhelming promise of power held so casually in hand by Jedah, the knowledge abundantly clear: He could destroy her completely, should he desire. He'd always been able to. But he hadn't. In fact, he'd promised her… hadn't he?

She came to an uncertain stop, eyes still glaring at Jedah, but now, they were tinged with doubt. "Then what are you here to do, Jedah, Son of Juuou?" Her voice was still angry, the tone challenging and sharp. She didn't trust him, didn't drop her guard one iota, but she'd hear him out. It was the very least that she would do. Literally. Still hidden in the shadows, Xellos blinked in surprise. This was an unexpected development. Lina was listening to Jedah, even after the surprising admission that he himself was attempting to orchestrate into something that paled in comparison to Lina's simply marvelous display. Once again, the sorceress had taken things into her own hands and done far better than Xellos could have.

Jedah lowered his hands, sealed off all trace of the powers and abilities that he had called to him. "Honestly, Lina Inverse Greywords? I'm here to help you." If Xellos shattered this moment, Zelas Metallium would be looking for a replacement General-Priest. It wouldn't take but a thought to wipe Xellos across the surface of the Sea of Chaos, and Jedah would do it, too.

Lina was far from convinced. "Why? Why would a Greater Mazoku want to help me?" Her arms folded across her chest, cloak settling closed about her, hiding her hands and her talismans that she wore from view. Jedah could sense them, however, and she knew that he'd know if she powered them up in preparation for an attack.

"Because, Lina Inverse Greywords, over the years that I have known Zelgadis, I've actually come to care for his well-being." Jedah replied calmly, ignoring the violet eyes rolling in the shadows, using Lina's full married name for emphasis. "And, given that, because I know how much danger Zelgadis is in and how desperately he needs our help." She looked even more skeptical, so Jedah tried to make his point one more time, this time in a fashion that would put things into perspective for the sorceress, falling to his knees and lifting his hands to her, granting her the position of superiority.

Uncertainty played across her face for a moment, but she closed the distance and he took her hands. "Lina, if we don't do something, Zelgadis will become something beyond anyone's reckoning; something so uncontrollably powerful that he might as well be Shabranigdo all over again."


	16. Chapter 16

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 16

Once more awareness stole into Zelgadis, creeping in on cat-like paws, unhindered, unnoticed until suddenly there was the cold and certain Knowledge that an even colder cloth was being pressed lightly against his lips. Parched stone drew the dampness out of the fibers, the cool wetness of it an almost blissful sensation. His lips twitched, and the cloth was lifted away. He cracked open one eye, then opened both fully when he saw a brunette woman next to him.

"Welcome back," she said, a light smile on her lips, dropping the cloth into a small bowl that was filled with water. "You've been out for so long that I was beginning to worry. It's hard to tell if your heart is beating under all that stone." She picked up her flask and held it for him to take a sip from.

"I don't have one," he said out of reflex, those long years of being the 'Heartless Mystical Swordsman' hard to overcome. But then, after he swallowed his water, he saw her odd expression, and amended with a slight grimace. "At least, that's what I tell people. It's easier than trying to explain what I am." Which was in serious question at this point. Wasn't he Chimera, evolved? Something… it tingled just out of mental reach.

"You look like you've taken one hell of a beating," she commented, distracting him from, her fingers lightly touching a knee that he couldn't feel. "What happened to you, anyway? Who were you fighting with?" She hadn't given her name yet, but then, neither had he.

"I…" He began, but found that memory wasn't inclined to cooperate, and he sighed in defeat. "I don't know. I don't remember how I got here, or what I was doing. Right now, the only thing that I am certain of is that my name is Zelgadis, and I'm injured more than I'd like to admit."

The look on her face did nothing to allay his concerns. "I'm sorry. You must have hit your head somewhere in with the rest of this." She waved a hand to indicate his legs, and he was glad that he couldn't lift his head to see how bad it was. "You're hurt pretty badly, and I don't have the ability to help beyond the basics. I've sent word by carrier bird to a friend of mine, though it could be some time before she manages to get here. In the meantime, I'll do what I can. I have some herbs to dull your pain, and I can bring you food and water."

"I don't need herbs for pain. There isn't much. I've probably broken my back." Zelgadis replied, a quiet sort of resignation in his voice. It wasn't a very promising outlook… unless one enjoyed being largely stationary and bound to a chair for the rest of one's existence. To someone like Zelgadis, that may as well have been the end of everything. Something nudged at his brain, a fuzzy sort of query as to why he was so injured when normally he would heal within hours, but it faded into the background almost as quickly as it formed.

Quiet amber eyes regarded Zelgadis for a moment, and then the brunette shook her head. "I saw you moving before, your back is probably just stunned or something. Maybe you landed hard and bruised yourself?" To him, it sounded like a pathetic refusal to accept fact, and Zelgadis wasn't known for refusing to see things as they truly were. If anything, he was inclined to view them as worse than they actually were. Mister Doom and Gloom himself, as… who had said that? Someone called him that, someone he knew… he couldn't remember. It made him even more likely to see things for the worse. But, given his situation, it was easier to simply press his lips together and give her the benefit of a doubt. "Maybe. We'll just have to see. But in the meantime," he struggled to put weight on his good arm. "We need to get out of the open. If someone or something was chasing me…"

"We should be okay. I'm not completely pathetic and without defenses… I was, after all, hunting." the brunette said, putting her hand gently on his shoulder. "You need to stop moving and rest, I'll put up my tent, and then we can talk a little more." She smiled lightly and he noticed a bow and arrows next to a pack on the ground nearby.

When she rose to walk over to it, he flopped back onto the ground and stared up at the sky. "Thank you," he said quietly, a thought occurring. "You're helping me, and I don't even know your name." He'd given her his, but she hadn't returned in kind, or even acknowledged him by name.

"I'm Cassandra. You can call me Cassie for short, though I refuse to answer to 'Cass'." She said softly as she rummaged through the pack for the fabric that made her tent. "Let me get this started, and then we'll come up with a way to make you more comfortable."

Comfortable? Zelgadis thought. It's hard to be uncomfortable when you can't feel anything from the waist down. He concentrated, closing his eyes and focusing his will on one singular desire to heal himself. He even held his breath, pushing with whatever inner strength he could dredge up.

There was a tingle, a magical flare, and it hurt. It hurt so sharply and so suddenly that he couldn't control his cry of anguish and she dropped the tent stakes to rush back to his side. "What happened?"

His answer was incoherent, a grunt of pain escaping again before he managed to release the magic and let it and the near soul piercing pain fade away. At last, he managed to steady his breathing enough to answer. "I'm… okay. I'll manage." He certainly wasn't going to do that again anytime soon.

She looked at him doubtfully, but nodded and released his hand. He didn't recall her taking it, but it was a minor detail. As she collected the tent stakes, he considered. His magic came to him if he focused… but would he ever be able to focus enough with that much pain? Maybe it was best to wait. He closed his eyes and waited. It was all he could do.


	17. Chapter 17

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 17

"No! That's not possible!" Lina exclaimed. "Xellos prevented that… he said so!" She remembered the confrontation and conversation all too clearly. How he'd told her that he was there to prevent Zelgadis from becoming a Mazoku. She didn't know why, but it made sense now that it was to prevent an uncontrolled shift in the balance of power.

"Actually, Lina," Xellos began as he stepped from the shadow where he'd been waiting, "You managed to do that for me. You were the uniting force within him, but the circumstances now aren't the same." The Trickster Priest gave a small little shrug and lifted a hand to Jedah. "Lord Greywords."

Finally identified by title and name, Jedah gave the General-Priest of Zelas a mental nudge. _You've been waiting to say that since Zelgadis disappeared. Satisfied?_ Without waiting for a reply, he looked to Lina and sighed. "Zelgadis is the unwilling prisoner of Deep Sea Dolphin, and it's imperative that we work together and free him."

Lina Inverse Greywords drew herself up to her full and not-so-formidable height, fixing both Xellos and Jedah with that famous 'I'm Lina Inverse and you'll do whatever I want you to do, or you'll get a Dragon Slave in your face' stare. "Get out of my way."

"You can't do this alone!" Jedah retorted as Lina began to advance on him. "I'll help you, Lina. I'll even make Xellos help." Xellos looked vaguely ill at the thought, but said nothing. Lina just pushed forcefully past them both.

"Lina!" Jedah said, reaching out to grab her arm. "Lina, please. I'm just asking you to trust me."

"Trust you? Why? Why do you care, Jedah? You're a Mazoku. Mazoku don't care. They're... they're monsters..." Lina's voice broke on the final two words, shoulders shaking as the enormity of the situation began to crush her. She forced herself to stay calm, forced her breathing to stay steady. She wanted to crumple to the floor and start to cry. What she did instead was glare at Jedah, as if daring him to simply vanish and leave her alone.

"Is that what you think, Lina?" Jedah sighed. "Is that what a Mazoku is to you? Does that make me a monster? Does it make Zelgadis one?" He challenged, knowing that it was a harsh blow, knowing it would sting. But he needed her to understand, to see the differences. Yes, most Mazoku were rather monstrous… but there were exceptions. There were always exceptions. And Jedah was one of those few, just as well as Zelgadis and Xellos.

"Zelgadis is different!" Lina snapped, Jedah's query having hit with the expected sting. He _was_ different. He wasn't cruel, he wasn't evil… he loved her. Mazoku couldn't love… they fed on fear and pain, lived lives of cruelty and torment. Zelgadis wasn't like that. He _was_ different. He _was_. He had to be.

"Is he?" Jedah countered, looking at Lina with a strange sort of sadness in his light blue eyes. "Do you really think so?" His voice softened, that sadness touching it and making him sound so vulnerable. So… human. "Am I a monster?" He watched Lina as she looked away. "Lina, before you answer that, let me explain a few things."

Lina looked to Jedah, skepticism etching a dark red light into her eyes. "I'll listen, but on one condition." She folded her arms, as if she was waiting for the protests, waiting for him to deny her that condition and add one more reason to the quickly growing list of reasons why she shouldn't trust him.

Jedah's right eyebrow quirked in a mannerism so similar to Zelgadis that it made Lina both angry and heartsick. "Anything, Lina." _Virtually anything, that is…_ he amended to himself. He couldn't just simply summon Zelgadis from his captor – that was a law that even he couldn't break. One Mazoku couldn't directly interfere with the actions of another. It was older than he was, and that was saying something, even though he hadn't owned up to precisely how old he was. Then again, she'd never asked.

"No secrets." At the stricken expression on Xellos' face (it actually made him open his eyes in shock,) Lina set her jaw. "I mean it. If you keep secrets, I can't trust you. We put all of our cards on the table, or we don't play." She meant it. If they were going to trick her this way and that, lead her on a merry chase of twisting paths and dead-end directions, well, she wasn't going to have any of it. She'd manage well enough on her own, thank you very much.

Xellos was having serious thoughts about this game. He was the one who made up the rules, who held the cards. He didn't play well by other peoples' rules. Perhaps it was high time for him to bow out and go see a few friends. Maybe he'd even visit Filia…

"No secrets, Lina." Jedah replied calmly, even taking it one step further. "And I'll make sure that Xellos doesn't try anything either. What we can give, we will, and freely."

Xellos spun to look to him, his teeth gritted and lips curled in a snarl. "I'll do no such thing!" It was merely a formality. Jedah had the power to force him to play along, to make his existence nothing short of miserable, and Xellos knew it. It all tied back to that tiny little bit of human left within him. Damn Jedah!

Jedah only smiled that little smile of his, that lazy one that said that he knew that he had the power, knew that all it would take was a thought, and nodded. "Yes, Xellos. I'm rather afraid you will. You came back to watch and now you're an unwilling player in this game." _I said 'can' for a reason, so pay attention!_ Jedah snapped. Sometimes Xellos could be so obtuse.

Lina frowned, but had to accept what she saw. "So start talking, Jedah."


	18. Chapter 18

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 18

It wasn't until after Cassie had put up the tent and helped Zelgadis sit himself upright under the shade it provided that it occurred to Zelgadis that he didn't know where he was. It was one of those thoughts that occurred to him in a rush of euphoria, that strange elated and lightheaded feeling that came after the pain he'd felt while struggling to move. He forced his breathing calmer and asked her where they were.

"Ambervale," she answered, shrugging as she handed him a waterskin. "Or, rather, the ruins of it. It went from a thriving village to a weeks-old ruin in a single night." She started rummaging through her pack, pulling things out of it, looking at them, shaking her head and putting them back.

Zelgadis choked on the water, spluttering as he repeated the name. "Ambervale?" He was back…? Had he left? "When did this happen?" He managed to ask as she fretted at him, trying to keep him from inhaling more of the water, though he wouldn't let go of the waterskin.

"Not too long ago. It's a good place to hunt for wild game, and the occasional odd bit here and there that might be sellable. I don't normally come into the runs this far, though. There's talk that this was the work of a Mazoku, and that he's still around here…" Cassie's golden eyes grew wide as she stared at Zelgadis. "Oh, Great One! Is that what happened to you? Did you disturb the Mazoku?" For a moment, her pack and its mysterious contents were forgotten.

Something rang in his addled memory, something about a Mazoku, a cold and chilling grip. Blue eyes… Damn! Why couldn't he remember what had happened? He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "For all I know, I may well could have. Who knows, it may even have been what destroyed this place. I don't know how long I've been here." He wet his lips and continued. "I can remember an ice cold grip, being unable to breathe… and blue eyes that seemed… I don't know. Detached." It certainly sounded like a Mazoku. Was the fight with this Mazoku what had caused the fall of Ambervale? Or was his fight after the fall?

"Don't push yourself," Cassie advised. I'm sure you'll recall everything in time. I'm told that the mind can be injured just like the body can… and judging by your physical injuries, it's amazing that you're more or less all in one piece up there." She tapped her own temple for emphasis. "Give yourself a chance to heal." She handed over a small parcel of food that she had taken from her pack, which he eyed as he took it with his good hand. "Here, eat it," she said. "It may not look that good, but it's better than you think."

After she tugged away the wrappings for him, he took a look at the grey-ish mash and then looked back to her with a skeptical glance. Slowly, he lifted it to his mouth and took a bite of it, blinking in surprise at the taste. "It's deer," she said, grinning. "With some vegetables mashed up in it. I wrap it up in leaves and stick it in the coals of my fire to cook. It doesn't come out half bad, though I'll admit it looks awful."

He had to agree with the appearance. The texture left a bit to be desired too… but beggars couldn't be choosers. At least it wasn't fish that had been fireballed to death. Like the time that… the memory vanished before he realized what it was and he cursed out loud. "Damnit!" Lowering his hand, he closed his eyes in bitter disappointment. "I think I'm going to rest for a while." He meant to say that he wanted to be alone, to sit and think things out for himself without her helping, without him feeling as if he couldn't do the most simplest of things. In other words, he wanted a chance to escape from the harsh reality that seemed to be crushing him.

Cassie sighed and nodded as she stood up. "I'll… scout around for some supplies; try to gather some wood for a fire. It looks to be a cold night." Silence answered her, and she walked quietly away.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her rescue, wasn't that he didn't need the assistance… it just felt… well, wrong. There was something that Rezo had told him, something about a choice and a door… and a girl. There was a girl. But even as he struggled to remember, it danced out of his mind in a scarlet haze and was gone. He opened his eyes again, casting a slow glance around to see if Cassandra was still there. Finding that she wasn't, he lifted the food again, taking another bite as he struggled to come to terms with his injuries. He chewed, swallowed, and then considered the mash, focus shifting to his hand. The stone of his skin was cracked, as if dry. But it didn't make sense. Stone skin couldn't crack. Not like normal skin could.

None of this made any sense to him. He glared down at his useless hand, his right hand. His sword hand. Where was his sword? If he'd been fighting here… it should have been close. Cassandra… Cassie would have said something, wouldn't she? Was she the Mazoku? He very carefully put the food down, unwilling to eat any more of it, in the event that it was possibly drugged.

Slowly, deliberately, Zelgadis began to focus his thoughts. Let the strange duality of pain and pleasure work to his advantage. Try it, learn from it. Manipulate it into a tool and not a hindrance. It would work. It had to. He would force it into working. If the pain gave him the ability to keep going, then he would learn how it worked and put it painfully to use. He'd do it on his own, no matter how long it took. He couldn't ask her for her thoughts on it.

He was the only one that he could trust.


	19. Chapter 19

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 19

Amelia, Naga, Sylphiel and Gourry had wandered the village, waiting for the stunned owner of the sandwich shop to procure and prepare the incredible amount of food they'd ordered. He was, of course, delighted, for if he pulled it off, he would be able to take an entire month off and sail the ocean blue if he wanted to. Now, after a little over two hours, they were heading back up the main road, hoping to find the food ready to go. Keeping Lina hungry was a Bad Idea, especially in her still somewhat fragile frame of mind. Naga and Amelia had both agreed that Lina needed her spirits kept up so that she wouldn't fall into depression. Amelia had seen the fiery sorceress do that twice now. It had been more than enough.

Gourry was busy admiring his new leather pouch, thinking hard about all of the things that he could put into it while Sylphiel walked along and contemplated the map she'd bought, occasionally glancing up to make sure she wasn't about to run into someone or something. Amelia and Naga were bickering loudly over where to set up the lunch, Naga in favor of eating in the relative security and shelter of the caves, Amelia preferring the fresh open air and pristine sand of the beach. Neither girl was managing to convince the other. Granted, that was no real surprise to any involved. Amelia may have grown into the role of Crown Princess, Gracia may have run away for years to come back as the still-generally scantily clad and boisterous Naga… but the girls had picked up right where they'd left off once things had settled back down. Sister's privilege, they'd called it. No-one dared disagree.

The good-natured squabbling was interrupted by a villager with white hair and eyes as black as night. She looked like one of those mages that had burned out all of their magic so completely that it had drained all the color from her hair, and possibly have done it repeatedly enough that her hair might never return to whatever its natural color may have once been. "Um… excuse me?" She asked in a soft voice, not entirely certain that they could have heard her over the amazing amount of babble issuing forth from the two who looked like sisters.

Three pairs of eyes focused on her, the two falling suddenly silent, and she took a timid step backwards. "Eek. Um, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you, but I was wondering… you see, I'm a traveler, and I've lost my stuff…? Some bandits attacked me…? And I don't have a clue where I am…?" She seemed almost so timid that she was asking everything, even when she was stating it as fact. "And, well, I was hoping that one of you might have… a map?" She knew that Sylphiel had one. It was one of the oldest, and lamest, tricks in the great book of 'How to Join Your Enemy Without Setting off Alarms' written by X. M., TPal. To her complete amazement, it worked, the Cleric falling right into the ploy.

"Yes, I have one right here," Sylphiel said sympathetically, stepping forwards with it. "You poor thing, here, have a look." As she handed the map over, she added "Bandits, how awful! When did you eat last? Would you like to join us for lunch? We're waiting for our order to be ready, and then we were planning a picnic, though we hadn't decided where." Being that Sylphiel was completely taken in, it wasn't too difficult to imagine that the other two would be as well.

Amelia and Naga looked at each other in a sisterly accusatory fashion, and then looked to the young woman who was studying the map, both speaking at the same time. "We were trying to decide if we wanted to eat… on the beach," Amelia finished as Naga said "…in the caves," at the same time. What was that phrase? Hook, line, and sinker? Good heavens, Deep Sea Dolphin would have a fit if she ever woke up to hear that one.

Gourry, in his typical blonde-headed fashion, hadn't even noticed the young woman and so had continued up the road and into the shop as the others had stopped. "Hey guys," he called from the door of the shop. "Our food is ready! Let's eat!" Sylphiel, apologizing, had to hurry ahead to keep Gourry from going ahead and eating it all before they could take it to Lina.

"Oh, I really shouldn't…" the young woman said, turning to watch Sylphiel and attempting to hand off the map to the nearest person… who was Amelia. "Though, it is a lovely day for a picnic on the beach." She watched the younger woman with innocent eyes, trying to sum up the small but buxom figure and therefore get ahead of her in the mental game of cat and mouse. She could fake a chance encounter on the beach…

"The beach it is!" Amelia shouted, giving her old victory pose, startling the 'innocent traveler' into dropping the map. When Naga gave her a dirty look and picked up Sylphiel's map, Amelia grabbed the young woman by the wrist and took off at a run, map completely ignored. "Come on! Let's go! I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

As she was dragged helplessly along, the young woman reflected on how insanely easy it had been to get involved. Then again, she still hadn't encountered Metallium or Greywords. If she could convince those two of her innocence, she'd be fine.

Once loaded with bags of food, the little group of (now five) people headed back towards the beach and the two (now three) they had left in the caves, a little mobile cluster of chaos as Amelia and Naga bickered back and forth once again, only this time over who was going to get what sandwich. Amelia thought Lina should choose what she wanted first, but Naga said that Lina would eat whatever they handed her. And while Naga was probably right, that wasn't the point. It was something to bicker about.


	20. Chapter 20

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 20

Jedah looked at Lina for a moment, his calm light blue eyes scanning her angry red ones. "What do you want to know, Lina? Where do I begin to explain the path that has led us to this place? There is no easy beginning… unless you wish to fall all the way back to the moment the Sea of Chaos gave birth to the Four Worlds?"

Lina folded her arms across her chest and smirked at Jedah. "Which you weren't around for, right? Never mind, that was rhetorical. Are you really related to Zelgadis?"

If there was anyone in the Four Worlds more capricious than Xellos, it was Jedah. Delightfully aware of how uneasy the Trickster Priest was becoming, the son of Zelas simply grinned his brightest boyish grin at the purple haired panic inducer and nodded to Lina. "I'm very much akin to Zelgadis, Lina. Moreso than Rezo." Jedah really hoped he wouldn't have to explain it all. It could get… well, tricky. "I'm not a brother to him by birth, Lina. But I'm his brother never-the-less."

Lina considered this. All of her life, she'd been the younger sister, the one whose middle name had been Trouble. Well, not really, but Lina regarded her middle name as a Family Secret and wasn't about to advertise it to the world. In fact, outside of her family, only Zelgadis knew that she had one, let alone what it was.

"Beatrice," Xellos remarked, the name so completely out of the blue that Jedah just looked at him. Perhaps it was lucky for them both that Lina had started talking at the same time.

"Okay, Jedah. If I take this at face value, as far as faces go around here, and you know where Zelgadis is, then why can't we just go get him? You're all-powerful, the son of Greater Beast, what is stopping you from going and getting him? Hell, with that, if the two of you are so damned similar, why hasn't he come back to me?" There was an edge in that, the soft hint of tears echoing in the silences between the words.

Damn his father for his compassion. Jedah sighed and spread his arms wide, hands open, palms up. "I can't, Lina. It's not that I don't want to. It's not about the power to do so. It's about an ancient law that cannot be breached. One Mazoku cannot directly interfere with the actions of another. It's a law that is older than Xellos, older than even I am."

Lina glared at both of them. "Where is he, Jedah? Who has Zelgadis? Tell me!" Her voice was torn with anger, pain, and tears unshed.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Jedah said quietly. He wasn't prepared for Lina to fly at him, to pummel his shoulder with her fist in sorrowful rage. Nor did he expect her to cling to him with her other hand, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I'm not Mazoku. I can go get him," Lina sobbed into Jedah's shoulder. "Just tell me how. Take me close enough and I'll go get him. Whatever it takes."

"It will take a lot, Lina. You don't understand what's at risk for all of us. I told you about Ambervale, but I didn't tell you about afterwards." Jedah replied calmly while he gently but firmly pried himself free of her grip and looked to her steadily.

"Afterwards?" Lina echoed, blinking at Jedah. She wanted to sit, so she stepped away from Jedah, moving across to a small pedestal and sat on it, tucking her feet up beside it. It seemed that the more Jedah talked, the heavier reality got.

It didn't help that Xellos was looking at Jedah in open concern. Jedah wouldn't just outright tell it all… would he? There were a great many things that he knew about the pair who claimed brotherhood… after all, he had been there for it.

"To put it simply, Lina, Zelgadis lost control. After Ambervale, he rambled, he raved, he was incoherent with grief." Jedah said, walking over to her and seating himself on the floor. He idly traced a glyph on the floor, watching the glow from his contact fade as he lifted his finger. "But when the anger kicked in…" he shook his head. "He almost destroyed us both."

_He hung there in mid-air, half corporeal, half Astral, close to completely exhausted. Zelgadis was nearly tireless, relentless in his attacks, combinations of magics that even Jedah would have thought twice about before trying. But enough was enough. He hadn't wanted to take this path, hadn't wanted to force Zelgadis back, but Jedah just couldn't fight the three combined wills within the Chimera. Not like this. He'd have to wait until the will of the Dark Lord was subdued. Rezo still had too much control over Zelgadis._

_Jedah forced his thoughts into Zelgadis' mind, forced the chimera to a halt and used all of his might to break the tenuous ties between the three. Human. Mazoku. Golem. It would hurt Zelgadis terribly, but it was the only way to save them both. To protect him, he brought forth the Golem's physical aspects, suppressing the Mazoku as much as he could, and allowing the Human mind to exert control. It was the best that he could do._

"Yes, Lina. I'm the one that broke him." Jedah finished with a sigh, not willing to look to her. "Shabranigdo's will was too strong, linked into him as it was through Rezo's control. So I broke him with all the violence I could, and took him as my older injured brother that needed my care."

Lina could hear the sadness in Jedah's voice, incongruous with the harshness of his words. Xellos had ceased looking uncomfortable, and now looked as if he was trying to come up with an excuse to escape. "And you knew all this time, Xellos."

The Trickster Priest attempted to look innocent, but in the face of both Lina and Jedah, he relented. "Didn't you ever wonder why Zelgadis dislikes me? He knew who I was when you first met me. Oh, he didn't know who I was… but we'd met."

Before Lina could ask anything else, Amelia's voice called from outside. ""Lina! Jedah! We have food!"

"Just one more thing, Jedah," Lina said, looking to him. "What's between you and Xellos anyway? I mean, I figure that you're equally, if not more, powerful than he is..." Lina watched the look that passed from Xellos to Jedah. It spoke volumes without a single sound. "But he holds the rank. Who is he to you?"

"Oh... him?" Jedah said lazily as he stretched his arms and walked towards the exit that led to the hallway up to the beach. "He was a Cephied Priest that I seduced, stripped of all will, and handed back a Mazoku Pact." And with that, Jedah Metallium Greywords walked out of the chamber, leaving an openmouthed Lina and a very understandably violet-faced Xellos.


	21. Chapter 21

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 21

Greywords.

His name was Zelgadis Greywords. And he'd been in Ambervale… but not alone. Someone had been with him. A someone with dangerously calm blue eyes. Young… and old. And there was pain. An excruciating agony that wasn't the kind that could be enjoyed. It tore at him, tore into him, breaking him… ripping him apart…

He opened his eyes with a gasp, awareness flooding back, sharp chilled air biting into his lungs. It had fallen several degrees with the setting of the sun, and he was disoriented, trying to grasp at the fading dream that had felt so very much like a memory. He caught it, twisting memory wrapping itself up in the guise of certainty and insinuating itself on the battered figure.

_The two hung in the air above, those calm light blue eyes looking lazily at him. Zelgadis was exhausted, his strength of will the only thing keeping him in the air. He'd started strong, one attack after the next, but the basic attacks had proven useless. He'd had to get creative, but it still hadn't worked. His adversary was simply too strong._

_He lifted a hand to collect another spell, but his very mind rebelled against him, his will inexorably being suppressed by his opponent's own will superimposing itself over his own._

_Pain lanced itself through him, arching his back, stiffening his limbs, stealing thought and breath. He fought, but the harder he fought, the more painful it became. A white-hot light flashed across his eyes, and he was consumed by pain. It burned at him, a soul-consuming fire that seemed to go on for all of eternity until even his heightened senses yielded to stark black nothingness._

Jedah. Innocent looking boyish Jedah. The Mazoku brat who goaded him into a fight, who pushed him and pushed him until both he and Ambervale broke. His soul torn, ripped savagely apart into three, and left tattered and bleeding. He'd been whole once. Pink of skin, powerful of magic… He wasn't Chimera evolved. He wasn't a weak, pathetic human caught up in a curse. He was Mazoku, power and will joined in whatever purpose he saw fit…

Zelgadis' upper lip curled, the darkness rising into his eyes, power stirring in the depths of his awareness, swirling, and swelling, straining against some tenuous-seeming barrier. He paused, gathered himself, and _pushed_.

There was a distinct sensation of a snapping, something that had bound him releasing with a small blast of delicious pain. A flash of red swept across his mind and then he heard a woman's voice calling his name in concern. Cassandra. Innocent little Cassandra. He caught himself back, forced his voice quiet and rejected the wild impulse to extract fear and terror from her just yet. "I'm… fine…"

Inside the tent, Cassandra looked out at the silhouette of the other for a moment. "Well… okay… if you say so." She could have sworn she'd sensed a flare-up of something, but she certainly didn't sense anything now. What had she missed?

He smiled, knowing that she couldn't see, knowing that in that flash of power, in that delightful pain that had rolled through him, he'd healed. His body was once more whole and under his command. After all, such was an advantage to being Mazoku. Physical injury meant nothing. He decided that he would spend the evening (Mazoku didn't need to sleep) considering ways to make Jedah absolutely miserable.

It amused him to consider the various ways that he could exert his will against the son of the Greater Beast. He'd find him soon enough, and start with whoever had the misfortune to be traveling with him. He was sadly out of practice, being broken as he had been, he'd lost his touch… his panache for exacting terror. He'd need somewhere peaceful to start again, somewhere that didn't know the ways of daily terror. He needed another Ambervale.

Within an instant, he'd changed his mind. Time to go, to find somewhere to terrorize. He reached out with his magic and frowned. Illusion? Someone was manipulating him? He? Someone dared? She! That girl! He rent the illusion asunder, finding himself standing in an area that only bared some small semblance to the glade where he had woken to find himself.

She was standing there, frowning at him. She was hardly innocent, barely the powerless little thing that he had thought. Come to point, she fairly reeked of power. "You!" He snarled, dark eyes blaring at her. "What do you want of me?"

Golden eyes blinked and she took a surprised step backwards. If he was addressing her, then he'd blown wide the illusion that she had so carefully woven. And if he had been able to do that… then she was in a great deal of trouble. Time to do what any bad Mazoku would do: change loyalties.

She kneeled quickly, bowing her head. Brunette hair tumbled around her as she spoke. "My Lord Greywords, I am Cassandra, General of Deep Sea Dolphin. I have been guarding over you until you could recover." If he bought it, maybe she wouldn't be too harmed by his wrath. He was more powerful than she, and she knew that her little plan had backfired most gloriously. He felt even more powerful than Xellos, and was probably on par with that other Greywords brat. If that was true and she irritated him… he could potentially wipe her off of the face of this world.

"Recover." He said dryly, looking at her with those deeply dark blue eyes. "Yes. I am recovered. And now, I take my leave. I trust you know better than to follow me." With a sardonic little smile and a half-bow, Zelgadis gathered his powers and vanished.

She cringed as he faded from view and sense. No, that had not gone to plan at all. _Well. So much for having the Black King…_ at least her servant was still at large. Maybe some measure of triumph could be wrenched from the ashes of the mess that she'd created.


	22. Chapter 22

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 22

Jedah had emerged from the caves first, immediately turning to Naga and thanking her for heading up such an important task and telling her how very much he appreciated her enthusiasm. She may have been suspicious before, but now she was lapping up the praise like a kitten with a fresh bowl of cream.

Xellos was second, his face still fairly violet-hued. He was busy looking backwards at an incredibly smug looking Lina, but his countenance darkened, the violet taking a dangerously dark tone when he turned and his now-open eyes settled on the new addition to the group. "You!" Without moving, he sent a bolt of magic towards the white-haired woman.

Instinct saved her, but at the same time betrayed her, for as her own powers shielded her from Xellos' attack, Jedah turned to see what the problem was. "Oh, hello there, Kessary, nice to see you again." His was a lazy smile, that kind that meant even the slightest slip-up, and you could be very, very dead very, very fast.

Xellos needed no prodding, mental or otherwise, Before Kessary could reply, he had shot past Jedah and grabbed the white-haired woman by her collar. She hadn't anticipated the physical attack from the Trickster Priest, so she hadn't moved until it was too late. "Hello dear, nice to see you again indeed. Time to go. Say goodbye."

As Xellos and a very startled Kessary vanished, Amelia looked at Lina, completely confused… right down to the nearly visible question marks over her head. "Miss Lina… Mister Jedah… what just happened?"

Sylphiel foisted her bag onto Gourry's already precarious load and began to unfold the picnic sheet she'd picked up at the shop. "I think Jedah and Xellos know our mysterious refugee. I wouldn't say that Xellos likes her very much, though."

Jedah took some of the bags from Gourry and grinned across them at Amelia. "Ex-lovers." To his delight, Amelia turned pink at the thought and moved to help Naga with the plates and napkins. Maybe it would smooth over and things could get back to as close to normal as they could.

It was, unfortunately, Gourry who made the connection that the others missed. "Gosh. I didn't know that Xellos was here. And you both knew Kessary." he said as he set down the bags and started to fish wrapped sandwiches out of them.

Naga came to a halt and looked up at Jedah, suspicion bright in her eyes once more. "That's right. Both of you said that it was nice to see her again. And you called her by name."

Jedah could have dropped an entire town on top of Gourry. Leave it to the village idiot to see through him. "Think about it, Naga. I've obviously had dealings with Xellos in the past…"

"Who hasn't?" Lina interjected, though she wasn't trying to help Jedah out of his self-made mess. She hadn't forgiven him yet.

Jedah nodded to Lina, smiling brightly, though he knew her lack of meaning for the comment that it was. "Don't you think I may have met his ex-lover along the way, too?"

Naga completely misread that bright smile on Jedah's face. "You… you don't mean to say that you're why she's his ex… Now listen here, Jedah Greywords! My little sister isn't one to be toiled with! She's the Crown Princess of Saillune and needs a companion who can comport himself properly. A cad like you who goes around stealing other people's lovers…"

It was taking every ounce of concentration for Jedah to keep from bursting into laughter, not at the self-righteous wrath of Naga, but the scarlet hue of Amelia's face as she studiously arranged the packets of seasonings on the blanket.

"Naga," Jedah finally said, allowing a tint of that laugh to color his voice. "I never said I stole his lover… just that I'd met her. Your desire to protect Amelia does you a good deal of credit, but I think she's more than capable of taking care of herself."

Lina had to give Jedah some credit of his own. He hadn't taken the opportunity to do harm, hadn't even so much as besmirched anyone's reputations... and there had been more than ample opportunity to do both. He wasn't acting like any Mazoku that she knew of. Maybe… just maybe he wasn't quite as bad as she expected him to be.

Maybe.

The scene elsewhere, however, was not so benign. Xellos and Kessary had squared off, each eyeing the other with open hostility. Insults had been thrown and Kessary had smirked at the Trickster Priest. "You may be Beastmaster's General-Priest, but you are still her son's toy, just as you always have been."

Xellos snorted, eyes blazing violet. "Perhaps you are not aware of my true position, servant of Cassandra. Jedah's toy I may have been, but those days are long since past. I am no longer his toy, no more than he is my master. There is a bond, yes, a Pact that stands between and ties us irrevocably to one another. You, created as you were, would have no knowledge or understanding of such. You have no will of your own, no desire but that of your creator."

Those obsidian eyes flickered with an angry depth and the woman's white hair went almost transparent as she drew forth her magic. "I may not have a will of my own, but my Lady Cassandra has the Black King, and you and your pawns are but trifles in the face of his power."

"He's gone, Kessary," a woman's voice interrupted. "The Black King has awakened, and will likely soon become Shabranigdo's Avatar."


	23. Chapter 23

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 23

No power in the Four Worlds could have made Xellos return to Jedah without attempting to gain some proof of this knowledge. Not even an angry Lina Inverse Greywords threatening him with the sublime power of the Lord of Nightmares Herself. It just wasn't going to happen. This wasn't something that one could allow to be driven by simple hearsay.

Shooting a dark violet glare to Cassandra and her pathetic servant, Xellos faded from the normal plane of existence and casually reached for Zelgadis.

Silence answered.

There was nothing to locate; nothing to center on and move towards. It was as it Zelgadis no longer existed. No Astral trail glittered with the Shaman's touch. It felt, to all intents and purposes, as if any and all traces of Zelgadis had been wiped from the world and its Astral memory. There wasn't a great many ways that could happen… even Xellos had left some tint of mortal Astral memory when he had made the Pact. But of Zelgadis, there was nothing.

Suddenly, beyond all rational reason, Xellos had a very human reaction: he grew very cold. If Shabranigdo had an Avatar after so long... then Zelas would have to serve him. Likewise, Xellos would have to as well. And Xellos preferred to do things the way that he wanted to do them, not the way that someone wanted him to. It wasn't against his nature, no. His very nature longed for the violence and terror that he was conscripted to by virtue of being Mazoku. It would just be against his... lifestyle. Not to mention more than a little bit awkward being subservient to Zelgadis. If he even was still Zelgadis. There were appearances to uphold and all that, after all.

Xellos was a Mazoku, yes, but he was also a creature of the finer things in life. As a mortal, he hadn't had the luxury of every whim being easily fulfilled at the flick of a wrist by servants dedicated to his most transient of desires. He'd found that he rather liked it, once he had it. And while Jedah's Pact had made him oh so very powerful, Xellos had never once been called by it to do anything. In fact, until recent events, the Trickster Priest had conveniently managed to forget all about it. To have been reminded and then have it potentially utilized... well, that made Xellos' purple blood run cold.

It damn near terrified him to go back to Jedah and report what he'd been told... but go back to Jedah he would.

He wasn't looking forward to it.

The scene on the beach was that of frantically controlled chaos. Food was flying and random arguments were erupting over one thing, to be quelled and redirected by another. So it was that when Xellos first returned, Lina didn't notice him.

She was still too busy to notice Jedah rise to his feet and walk over to Xellos, instead turning to argue with Gourry over a bit of pickle that was closer to her hand than his. By Lina's point of view, that made it hers for the eating, and no amount of rebuttal would convince her otherwise.

Amelia, however, nudged Naga, who in turn pointed to Xellos and Jedah and nodded. Something was transpiring, and neither sister could hear the hushed but somehow violent exchange that took place between who they thought were just Mazoku and brother to the missing member of the group. Of the two who were having the hushed discussion, neither were giving any indication of emotion. Hands were deceptively still, faces calm and composed as words were quickly exchanged, lips shadowed so that someone watching wouldn't be able to read the words spoken… not that they were spoken between Xellos and Jedah in a language that could be understood by those nearby. No, it was a language so old as to be dead in the world that they used for maximum security… until Jedah was shocked into absolute silence by two words:

Shabranigdo's Avatar.

When Jedah's face went completely white at Xellos' sotto-voiced words, Gourry dropped both the argument and the pickle to look fully over at them. It was sufficient enough to derail Lina, and she turned, her own designs on the pickle quickly forgotten when she saw Xellos… and Jedah.

Jedah looked pale and shaken. He was, surprisingly, the human image of distressed. His head was bowed, the first finger and thumb of his left hand pinching at the bridge of his nose. His shoulders dropped as Lina stood, and as she approached, he lifted his head to look to her, reaching both hands to her.

Worried instinct took her hands to meet his and Jedah gripped her fingers lightly as he stepped forwards to whisper in her ear. The Four Worlds came to a near-stop for a moment, and then Lina crumpled under the weight of what Jedah had just told her.

Sylphiel and Amelia leapt to their feet, food forgotten as they ran to offer what they could, and Naga and Gourry looked across the picnic at each other. It was the look of two who knew Lina the longest, and each knew that sort of reaction from the redheaded sorceress meant the worst.

It was a grim-faced Jedah that caught Lina, a silent look towards Amelia and Sylphiel as they ran to aid the suddenly fragile mortal in his arms. Naga saw it first, the edge of light that glinted in those blue eyes, eerily reminiscent of the one she'd seen in Zelgadis' eyes when he was going after Xellos in her family home. As she watched Jedah stand with Lina in his arms, she could have sworn that Jedah was the older brother, not Zelgadis. He seemed older, stronger, jaded and yet somehow determined. He was an enigma, even more so than Xellos, and as Naga looked to him, Jedah's eyes met hers.

The sharp despair that glinted in those suddenly brilliant eyes caught her soul and Naga felt for a moment as if she couldn't catch her own breath. She was spinning, lost in the face of a world so very much larger than she was. And it didn't care that two she loved were caught up in the chaos.

She blinked, and Jedah turned away, carrying Lina, moving with Sylphiel and Amelia back towards the town, leaving Naga and Gourry to gather the remnants of the picnic, Naga in stunned silence, Gourry seemingly blithely unaware that something big had just happened.


	24. Chapter 24

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 24

Zelgadis stood on the edge of the ruins of the small town that had the sheer misfortune of being there when he was looking. The inhabitants had been terrorized, a night of fire, ice, wind, earth, all the elements turned against each other in the oldest war known to eternity. That the people who lived within were unwilling participants only made the terror all the more exhilarating. It was better when it was a nameless, faceless terror.

He used his thoughts to turn the townspeople on each other. Unspeakable acts of violence rang terror through the night as the elements warred. They were things that even Xellos would have hesitated over, for there was a harsh brutality over the way the hapless people were forced into acts beyond reason or caring. Blood was spilled with reckless abandon as people were callously turned against each other.

It was fierce, fast, and hard as iron, breathlessly tantalizing. Zelgadis could enter their minds and feel what they felt, the pain, the panic, and the terror. It filled his senses, overflowed into his soul and carried him deeper into the darkness.

And he embraced it, coveted it. Eyes that were once a soft aquamarine hardened, darkened, a brilliantly deep sapphire taking the cold hard edge of diamond. He welcomed the darkness, reached out with both hands and took it, the sheer sensations pushing him to what seemed the edge of all Eternity.

It was better than anything he'd ever experienced in his pathetic mortal existence.

And he wanted more.

So he took it.

His thoughts flew from one mortal mind to the next, skating across the surface of thought as if it were a perfectly frozen lake. He nudged this way and that way, never quite releasing the mortals but allowing them to watch what they were doing. His own senses sharpened in dark delight as the panic rose within them, filling him with the sweet taste that stung so acridly in their throats. How easy it was to incite terror into these pathetic beings! How stupidly simple their little world was. They rose, worked, slept… all without truly feeling the emotions that their little lives went past.

But he was fixing that. He showed them terror like they'd never felt, things beyond the mortal mind's ability to comprehend. Some of them broke, cracked like fragile eggs, some of them simply shut down in self-defense. A rare few became caught up in it, feeling waves of ecstasy not unlike his own, as if perhaps they were beginning the shift, beginning to become lesser Mazoku. He nurtured several of them, feeding them the darkness, curious to see if they were capable of becoming lesser Mazoku.

When the third one's heart burst within his chest, Zelgadis grew tired of that and moved on to the slow and luxurious anguish that rolled away from another mortal.

It was sweeter than having an unwilling woman fighting him in his bed.

It was despicable, hedonistic and sordid.

He reveled in it, yielding to it, allowing it to take him fully.

In what seemed all too short a time, Zelgadis had drunk his fill, glutted himself on the rampant emotions, and sat idly picking off the lesser Mazoku who had dared come near to try to feed from his actions. That in turn fed his needs and desires on yet another level, leaving him drifting lazily through his own hazy thoughts as the remnants of the town smoldered below.

A flash of red hair.

Crimson eyes blinking.

Purple eyes shot through with obsidian, widening.

A woman's voice, soft.

The scent of smoke-kissed pine.

Crystal blue eyes as light as a Summer's sky and as cold as the ice that encased the Demon King of the North.

Crystal blue eyes.

Cold eyes.

Jedah's eyes.

With a snarl at the memory, Zelgadis threw a bolt of magic out, wiping the remnants of the town off of the map. This game wasn't fun anymore. He wanted to find Jedah. Wanted to find the Mazoku brat son of the Beastmaster and show him what true terror was. There were ways of making Jedah pay for his actions against Zelgadis… and then there were ways of making Jedah truly pay.

Eyes were watching him. He spun, dark blue-diamond eyes glaring across to the watcher, a snarl on his lips as perfect teeth glinted in the light like a feral animal threatened. Dark power with no focus built around a simple thought, like a lazy snake that knew it had no chance of failing in its attack and so chose to take its time in the hunt.

The purple eyes from his memory snapped open in shock and the General-Priest of Zelas Metallium lifted his staff and willed himself away, vanishing into the night like a whispered memory.

"That's right," Zelgadis breathed darkly to the vanishing figure, his voice harsh and sinister, a far cry from the soft-spoken man he was once upon a forgotten memory. "Run. Run to your mistress like the lapdog you are, begging at her heels, answering her beck and call. I know who you are, Xellos Metallium. I know where you go and what you do. And like it or not, no matter how hard you refuse it, you are mine. And you will lead me to the one that I cannot yet sense; yes, you will lead me to Jedah, son of Beastmaster. And then the fun can truly begin."

The old game had ended. It was time for a new one. Time to play Hide and Seek… followed by Tag. Because Zelgadis was It.


	25. Chapter 25

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 25

Lina hadn't fainted. No, the redheaded Sorceress had instead instantly dissolved into tears, a completely uncharacteristic response to Jedah's revelation about Zelgadis potentially becoming Shabranigdo's Avatar.

Jedah led them all into the caves, through that small hallway and into the first room, helping Lina sit on the floor where Amelia could offer her a handkerchief from her pouch and Sylphiel could murmur little useless words of what pathetic comfort she could. Gourry stood by the doorway, contenting himself with being the guardian, keeping watch for anything that might come their way… largely because he didn't know what else he could do. Lina's tears had always made him feel a little strange, as if he'd somehow managed to fail her as protector and older brother, even though she was perfectly capable of fending for herself.

The Trickster Priest had vanished somewhere along the way back to the caves, so Naga couldn't pin him and ask him what she wanted to ask. Instead, she looked from Lina to Jedah and frowned. "What?" Her patience was worn, and she was tired of having the impression that a game was being played at her expense. She wanted answers, and she gave Jedah a look that told him all too plainly what she thought of the silence, and his lack of willingness to be forthcoming with answers. The youth blinked his light blue eyes for a moment, the picture of guilty innocence, and then he sighed. He shook his head, his soft violet hair trying to tug itself out of the ponytail he wore it in.

"Amelia," Jedah said, looking to the younger girl. "Will you please take care of Lina for me? I need to speak with your sister." No reasons were given, but then Amelia was completely taken in by Jedah and didn't need any. As far as Amelia was concerned, Jedah was no-one and nothing more than Zelgadis' younger brother.

Leaving Lina in the care of Amelia, along with Sylphiel and one rather lost Gourry, Jedah led Naga deeper into the cave system, aware of what he'd have to do… and somehow not finding the thought very pleasing. He had hoped that it wouldn't have had to come to this, but he needed Naga on his side, needed to be on her side… for if not for Naga, Lina wouldn't have managed to get this far. And if he was going to reach Zelgadis, Lina would have to be there with him. So as far as he was concerned, Naga was essential and he couldn't afford any rifts within the group.

They didn't get very far, however, for as soon as they were unquestionably out of earshot of the others, Naga came to a halt and folded her arms, glaring at Jedah's back as she spoke. "Enough games, Jedah, or whoever you are. I want to know who you truly are and what's really going on."

"Are you certain?" Jedah asked from the darkness. He came to a halt and turned, though he knew that she couldn't see him. He sounded so sad that for a moment, Naga wasn't sure. But she rallied herself and glared into the shadows. "Of course I'm sure! I asked you a question and I expect an answer!"

He sighed, closing his eyes and calling his magic to him, regretting it even as he did it. As Naga stood there, Jedah became visible in the darkness, etched out of light in bas-relief. Black, purple and gold glittered around him, his hair was suddenly long down his back, and then the magic parted like a cloak that had been swirled around his figure.

She gasped, eyes widening as she took a step away when he moved out of that unnatural reversed-light darkness. He was clothed in black that was edged with purple and gold trim, ancient runes worked into the edges of his tunic, glittering throughout his belt. His black hair offset crystal blue eyes that made her think of the clearest Winter sky… and the unmistakable sense of Power. He tingled with it, glittered with it, his eyes so clear, so beautifully deep… she felt the pull, felt the hypnotic gaze sweep through her as if he could look at her very soul. As if…he held near-infinite power in the palm of his hand. As if he was so very much more than he was telling her. As if…

In an instant, she placed it.

"Mazoku!" She gasped, her own blue eyes widening incredulously at him as she took two steps backwards. "You're Mazoku!" It wasn't a nameless dread that crept through her, no. She knew the danger, knew what he could do to her if he so chose.

"At last, no secrets, Naga. I am Jedah, son of Zelas Metallium. My powers and abilities outstrip even Xellos." His voice hadn't changed; it was still the same. It hadn't darkened with detestation as most Mazoku's did, nor had it grown rough with power. "But I do not choose to exist on the world in my capacity as the Son of the Greater Beast, and I only show you because you had the obscene temerity to badger me into it."

The weight of those words hit Naga full on. She'd pushed relentlessly at one of the most powerful beings in the Four Worlds. She was lucky to still be there to realize what she'd done. The next thought was to wonder if she'd live to tell of it.

"I would prefer it if you didn't mention it," Jedah said quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice. Naga found herself nodding, speechless by the sheer force of Presence that hung as an aura in the room. She was caught in one of those moments where she might not have been awake or asleep, but somewhere halfway in-between, that waking dream in which anything was possible… and perfectly acceptable. So Jedah was a Mazoku. A Greater Mazoku, at that. He wasn't objectionable… just… powerful. It almost made a bizarre sort of sense.

And then, from the doorway, came the unmistakable sound of Amelia screaming in absolute terror.


	26. Chapter 26

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 26

When Sylphiel, Lina and Gourry heard Amelia's screams, Lina's tears were put aside. Truth be told, Lina could only handle one disaster at a time, and it was easier to push her feelings out of the way than deal with them. It was how she worked, how she lived. She'd left Amelia in danger once, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she did it again.

"Damn!" Jedah spat, throwing up a brilliant wall of light that obscured himself from view and made both Naga and Amelia shield their eyes from the flare that they could feel tingle against their skin as something physical. It felt strange, as if it was more than just light.

When the light had vanished, Jedah was still there, but all signs of power, all appearances of Mazoku were gone. He was, once again, the youthful and over exuberant younger sibling of Zelgadis Greywords, bright eyed and full of mischief and mirth.

To Naga's point of view, a great many things happened almost all at once. Jedah vanished in a brilliant light as Amelia screamed, only to reappear at nearly the same time that Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel burst into the room. Within seconds of that, Lina was across the room, fury lit within her scarlet eyes as she stared down Jedah, stopping just short of pushing him backwards… not that she needed to. He'd backed up involuntarily at her stalking.

"What did you do to Amelia, you sorry son of a Mazoku?" Lina growled, voice pitched low and edged with her barely withheld desire to beat someone into the dirt for any little thing that she could think of. Innocent boy, son of the Greater Beast, it didn't much matter to her, Lina would do whatever she had to do to take him down if needed.

Jedah knew that Lina was an emotional time bomb with the power of Chaos to back up her threats, and he couldn't take the chance that she'd call down the Lord of Nightmares on him in her upset hysteria. "Lina, calm down. I didn't do anything to her," he said quietly and calmly. If he got in her face in return, it would only end up in a contest of wills… and while Lina had power to back up her will, he had far, far more power than she, and he didn't want to use his power if he didn't have to. It would do more harm than good, especially with the rest of the group watching the way they were. This was truly a discussion for a more… private venue.

Amelia was in shock, her thoughts flying wildly as she tried to make some sense of what she'd seen. That had been Jedah, that achingly beautiful Mazoku she'd seen… right? She hadn't imagined it; he had been right there in front of Naga, reeking of power.

Gradually, the shell-shocked Princess of Saillune became aware of Sylphiel and Gourry, became aware that Naga was watching Lina threaten Jedah within an inch of his existence if he'd done anything to harm Amelia.

What if Lina didn't know?

What if none of them knew?

In that moment, a decision was made and the future Queen pulled herself to her feet and opened her mouth. "Lina, it's okay. Jedah didn't do anything to me. I was simply surprised and allowed my irrational fears to run away with me." Her voice rang so clear with conviction that Amelia surprised even herself, but did her best to hide it. After all she'd been through, somehow taking this in stride seemed… natural.

Naga was the first to turn and stare at Amelia, largely because she knew better… and she knew that her sister knew better after that shriek. Jedah looked owlishly over Lina's shoulder, and Sylphiel and Gourry, both blithely oblivious to the undercurrent of emotion in the room, simply looked to Amelia.

The only one who truly looked surprised was Lina. "A… Amelia?" Lina asked as she turned away from Jedah to see Amelia lift both hands, palms up. At this point, Jedah was completely clueless, a state that he didn't generally enjoy. The footing here was suddenly very uneven, and he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. At least with Lina, he could expect a certain level of reaction from, a fireball here, a sarcastic comment there. Amelia was an unexpected and completely random element.

"I'm fine, Lina. I think I surprised Jedah as much as he surprised me," Amelia said with a vague sort of smile. That part was completely true. She'd stood next to Jedah while they'd both made Xellos ill… or had he? A few more things, random comments, fortuitous happenstances… they all fell into mental place with a click and Amelia shook her head slowly, though more at herself than the current situation. "We should keep looking for Zelgadis."

Oh yes, that one minor detail.

That chilling little trifle.

Amelia didn't know.

"Um… Amelia… there's a small problem with that," Jedah started out quietly, looking to Lina as he did so. "You see… my brother…" He hated to have to be the one to voice it, hated himself for being willing to voice it, for the small part of him that would take that perverse little thrill of pleasure from the distress that it would cause.

He was a pathetic Mazoku at times.

"Amelia, Zelgadis has fallen into the darker aspect of his own power, and I have to find him. One way or the other, I have to stop him."

Lina's words were quiet, the depth of what she said and did not say chilling the group and leaving an uneasy silence echoing in the cavern.


	27. Chapter 27

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 27

It was a heavy silence that no-one seemed willing to dare break, but at length, it was Gourry who did so. "Finding him won't be hard, he ought to leave an Astral print as big as the city of Saillune."

Lina still wasn't comfortable with Gourry's random bouts of intelligence, but she had to admit he had a point. "Unless he's shielding himself – which is entirely possible, Gourry. If he's truly on the path we fear, then he may have taken steps to keep us from being able to find him. Remember; Zel is well seated in Shamanistic Magics, and even before all of this he could shield from me. He did so in Tirshen."

Jedah didn't mention that it was a matter of course that he shielded his presence from people. It helped with the illusion that he was nothing more than a tagalong little brother along for the ride.

"How will you stop him, Lina?" Amelia asked, glad for something to draw attention away from the now-dangerous subject of Jedah the Mazoku. Anything but that harsh reality that had smacked her upside the face, no matter how breathtakingly beautiful Jedah had been.

Lina sighed and shook her head slowly. "I... I don't know, Amelia. I've gotten through to him before; I have to believe that I can do it again. Zelgadis and I were connected by a spell once, I know him better than I ought to... so there should be some way that I can reach him."

Everyone could hear the edge of desperation in Lina's voice, the absolute need to believe that there was something that she could do, some way to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable odds of overcoming Zelgadis, if he truly was taking the path that Xellos had indicated. Come to that... where was the purple pest with powerful tendencies?

"Where's Xellos, Jedah?" Lina asked, ignoring the surprise from Sylphiel and Gourry that Jedah would know. Subconsciously, she noted that neither Amelia nor Naga seemed surprised, but she'd get to that later. One thing at a time, and the immediate concern was the revelation of Zelgadis falling to the seduction of power.

"He's assessing the situation, Lina. I'm sure that he'll let us know when there's something important. In the meantime, we need to decide what we do. If we take what Xellos was told by Kessary as truth, though we have to consider the source being Kessary and Cassandra, then we may well have bigger issues than simply Zelgadis. Kessary and Cassandra are subordinates of Deep Sea Dolphin, and having them on our hands as well could be very, very bad." Jedah replied, looking less like the younger brother, and more akin to someone in charge. His hair was that short soft violet again, those eyes showing nothing of the hypnotic power they could hold. For all intents, he looked just as normal as the rest of them. If any of them could be considered normal. He just held himself as if he were older and in charge. Which, for the moment, he was.

Sylphiel took a look around the room, and with a knowing air of understanding, turned to Gourry. "Gourry dear, we should probably go gather up everything that we've dropped." Gourry was amicably clueless enough to go along with.

Amelia understood the situation better than Sylphiel and agreed that they ought to bid a polite retreat. Naga, on the other hand, was recalcitrant. While Jedah answered Lina's question, the elder sister whispered to younger. "You saw, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Amelia replied, dismayed to be back in that conversation. "That's why I screamed." She really didn't want to discuss it, really didn't want to have to come face-to-face with the thought that Jedah… was… yes. She grabbed Naga by the wrist and dragged her older sister along as they followed Sylphiel and Gourry out of the room.

Lina shook her head. She didn't like this, didn't like the situation and sure as Hell didn't like what Xellos had shared. "What proof do we have, Jedah? What solid evidence is there that shows that we may have lost him to Shabranigdo?"

"We don't." Jedah replied quietly. "All we have is the word of Xellos, who was told by Kessary. We have nothing solid, but we can't risk it being true. That much power drawn to Shabranigdo… it would be as devastating to the world as Dark Star would have been." Oh, Jedah knew all about that, knew the power that could have been ripped though the Four Worlds, but for the determination of the tiny little redhead before him. It was one of the many reasons he respected her.

Lina nodded thoughtfully as she glanced around the room. "We have to figure this out. We have to find a way to get to him, Jedah. There has to be a way." Sylphiel was trying to pick things up, but she'd dropped more than a few, and now Gourry was moving to help as Amelia and Naga looked worriedly to Lina and Jedah. Mistaking the cause for worry, Lina managed a fragile little smile to both princesses and turned back to Jedah. "And we have to protect them."

"Zelgadis is looking for you, Jedah." Xellos' voice filtered through the cavern, sending an already jumpy Amelia into the air.

"I know," Jedah replied as he watched Amelia leap and land, facing the Trickster Priest who was just outside of the shadows. "And if there's one thing that I can't allow to happen, it's him find all of us together. Lina, forgive me, but I have to keep you safe. I promised."

"Oh, I'm afraid that it's a bit too late for that, Jedah." The voice that spoke from the shadows behind Xellos was soft, velvet with power. Even without the cringing of the closed-eyed wonder, Lina would have known it anywhere.

Long, slow steps brought the speaker out of the shadows, a tall figure cloaked in black with eyes as cold and hard as blue diamond.

Zelgadis had found them.


	28. Chapter 28

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 28

Magic swept out, percussive force of power sending Xellos flying out of the way as the black-clad figure of Zelgadis advanced on Jedah. The combination of magic force and subsequent sound of Xellos hitting the floor caught Amelia's attention, and she dropped the pack that she had only just picked up to run into the room.

Light blue eyes narrowed and Jedah's hasty barrier snapped into place before Amelia could cross back over the threshold. She yelped in indignation as she bounced off of the barrier, causing Zelgadis to turn and look at her. What started as a protest died on Amelia's lips as the cold blue diamond gaze slid over her and Zelgadis turned back to Jedah.

Jedah was glad of the distraction Amelia had so inadvertently provided, for it allowed him the chance to step in front of Lina, effectively blocking the Sorceress from Zelgadis. He'd made a promise. He had to keep it. Even if it meant keeping them from each other.

Once Xellos recovered his equilibrium, Jedah knew that he would do what he did best and run… hopefully taking the onlookers with him. Lina, however, would fight any attempt to take her away from Zelgadis tooth and nail, no matter how Zelgadis was. She'd cause more problems that it would be worth risking Zelgadis noticing her presence.

Lina suddenly found herself squarely behind Jedah, hidden from view. While a part of her understood it, another part of her fumed. Mazoku or not, that was Zelgadis. Her husband.

"Hello, brother. I was wondering where you'd gone," Jedah began calmly, as if nothing had happened, as if Zelgadis wasn't standing before him looking very much like the Dark God reincarnated. Underneath it, however, Jedah's power was working overtime, a desperate hope that somewhere in there was the Zelgadis that had a soul, a conscience. A heart. Anything at all that could indicate that there was any shred of humanity left.

"You, of all Mazoku should know that I am not your brother, Jedah, son of the Greater Beast. And, while I was of your… making… for a time, that is no longer the case. I have recalled who I am, I have retaken my place, so long thought vacant. The Dark God's will is my will, and so it will be." Zelgadis spoke quietly, the cadence of his words almost hypnotic with the dark promise of so much more, so much power carried there. It was uncannily akin to what Jedah had so recently done to Naga.

Xellos, by this point, had managed to gather himself and slip through the barrier. No sooner had he done it, Amelia and Naga had corralled him with questions. Shaking his head, he staggered towards the cave exit perhaps unintentionally leading the four who had been at risk of danger out along with him. There was a time and a place for sarcastic comments about secrets. Right now wasn't it.

Jedah noted that with a mental smile, and looked to Zelgadis quietly. "As you've gone so out of your way to fine me, I can only surmise that you recall the events that took place at Ambervale," Jedah finished, dismayed that his sensing hadn't revealed a single flaw, not one remote chink in Zelgadis' borrowed armor. It was as if the being before him had never been the man that had stood alongside Lina in battles, fended off Amelia's crush, or held Lina's hand in marriage.

"Oh, I remember. I remember the innocent eyes, the innocent smile that touched your lips as you burned fire through me, as you tore me apart with your boyish gaze." Zelgadis replied calmly, softly, dangerously. "I recall it all with startling clarity. Shall I share it with you, Jedah? Shall I extend to you the self-same courtesy that you showed me so recently?"  
Jedah couldn't have backed up it he had tried. Lina's presence was suddenly all too clear to him as her hand gripped his shirt, tightening convulsively over the soft fabric, crumpling it into what was certain to be hundreds of tiny little wrinkles. He could feel her breathe, could feel the confusion and fear that radiated from her. Fortunately, he was blocking Zelgadis' sensing her. Unfortunately, he found that he was feeding off of her without intending to, feeling his power rippling from within.

And then it hit Jedah with full force.

Recently.

Zelgadis had said 'recently.'

Puzzle pieces formed, fell into place, creating a picture that Jedah didn't want to see, but found he had known all along.

Whatever had broken Zelgadis, whatever dark force had taken him from Lina, it had thrown his memory backwards, turned back the blanket of time and put Zelgadis back in the days after Ambervale. It had set him back at that crossroads, and without Jedah present to contain the Mazoku Airport, Zelgadis had taken the other path.

Damn.

Before Jedah could do anything about it, before he could so much as reach for her, Lina burst out from behind him, throwing herself headlong into an unfathomable danger at the hands of the simulacrum of the man she loved.

"Zelgadis! Stop it!" Lina gasped, completely unprepared for the altered appearance of the man she'd married. Tall, dark, breathtakingly powerful, Zelgadis overshadowed Jedah in sheer power and presence. Even in standing there, he had a lazy feline grace that suggested that he was merely standing there because it suited him to do so at the time.

Those cold, blue diamond eyes narrowed, finely-chiseled features taking on the faintest impression of a frown as the redhead's interruption attracted his attention.

A flash of red hair.

Crimson eyes, blinking.

The scent of smoke-kissed pine.

A figure, barefoot in white, hands reaching out.

A woman's voice, edged in desperation, calling out his name.

Confusion lanced across the blue eyes, pain following quickly after, and as Jedah grabbed Lina's arm in concern for the worst, Zelgadis stepped backwards quickly, vanishing into the shadows.

Once again, Jedah found himself alone in the cave with Lina.


	29. Chapter 29

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 29

Silence, Amelia decided, was worse than the loudest chaotic cacophony. She'd rather be able to hear shouting, ranting, crying… anything other than the strange stillness that had settled around the small group that had followed Xellos off through another series of rooms that they hadn't even known were there.

After moving them through the third chamber, Xellos had paused, still seeming to ignore the four mortals that trailed behind him. He'd opened his eyes, looked around, and then with his eyes still open, had drawn the group through one more stone chamber before collapsing into a heap on the stone floor. Instantly concerned, Sylphiel had leapt forward to aid, only to be repelled by something akin to the barrier that Jedah had thrown up to prevent Amelia from returning to the room before.

It had taken a few more attempts for them to realize that Xellos was deliberately pushing them away from him as he gathered himself into a slumped, but seated position on the stone floor, looking as if he'd been at the brunt end of a Soul Bless or one of the other powerful, and at times unfortunately, Sealed White Magics.

It took no time at all for Amelia to realize why Xellos was pushing them away, and calmly slip through the barrier to sit next to him. It was then that she decided that silence was intolerable, and she quietly touched her fingers to Xellos' gloved hand, causing him to turn his head slightly to look to her, his violet eyes dull and strangely lifeless.

"You know that I do not like you, Xellos Metallium. You are a Mazoku, and by all rational definition a sick and twisted antithesis of all that I hold dear. You delight in the pain and suffering of others, and yet, you are taking no power, no… comfort" she nearly choked on the word, "from us. You have led us away from danger, protected us in a way opposite of your nature. I do not understand your behavior, as it is clearly having an impact on you."

Amelia's speech was delivered with almost no emotion. She would be a great ruler indeed, Xellos decided. That was, if they survived the showdown between Jedah and Zelgadis. That fight would be nothing less than catastrophic.

Not even Xellos would be safe here from the shockwaves of power that could and likely would result from an all-out battle between Mazoku of their level. And yet, Xellos had no strength to draw the five of them away any farther. He was bound to Jedah's will not to leave the mortals, and he was doomed if he didn't. It was a no-win situation, and so it was time for him to pay the piper and tell some of the truth. 'Can.' That tiny little word that Jedah had so easily bound him with. Damn that capricious son of the Beastmaster.

"Amelia," Xellos began quietly, hating every word he uttered, "Once upon a time, I walked the world, a mere mortal like yourself." His voice was too low for Naga, Sylphiel, and Gourry to hear. They could see that the odd pair was speaking, but no words were penetrating the thick silence. "In those days, I was a Priest of moderate rank, sworn to the same service that you are now."

Shock rippled over Amelia's features as she looked sharply to Xellos. He lifted his hand out from under hers, as if he found her touch to be painful. "I made the Pact with Jedah, knowing that one could not exist without the other. If I became a powerful Mazoku, the balance would demand a powerful ally for the other side as well. It… made sense." It had been a logical sacrifice, he'd told himself at the time. He hadn't stopped to think out the fact that he was balanced out in mediocrity as well. Ah, the misguided sacrificial tendencies of impetuous youth.

Amelia frowned. Xellos didn't sound like himself, didn't have that annoying edge to his voice, that glitter in his violet eyes as he looked at her. "Zelgadis… if that even was Zelgadis, he hit you harder than you want us to know. He's nearly killed you and you're protecting us!" She couldn't hold back the sudden burst of emotion, couldn't quell the spark of rage that flashed through her. "Well, stop it!" The anger sharpened her voice, shattering the silence with a crack that seemed like the last two words were echoed in the distance. It was a thunder with no lightning, a fierce catch of the last two words as if not one, but two voices had spoken it at the same time.

Naga frowned over at her sister, but cast a glance back the way they had come. Had that been Lina's voice she'd heard, a strange echo of Amelia's? Or was it simply a trick of these caves? She looked bath to Amelia and Xellos, wondering if they had heard it, wondering what they were talking about. Xellos looked half-dead and Amelia… well, Naga wasn't sure what emotion that was that she could see in her sister's eyes. Pity? Compassion? For Xellos? Or was it maybe for someone else?

Something seemed to settle around Amelia, an odd mix of tangible and intangible magic laced with emotion. Determination flashed across the younger Princess' eyes, and she summoned up all the courage that she could, telling herself it was the only way, a last desperate gamble to save them all from what was rapidly becoming clear as Certain Doom. Young woman gave way to magic, an ancient power of Woman, something as old as Jedah, as old as Chaos Itself. It was the power that enabled those who could wield it the ability to make the hardest of choices, take the most dangerous of actions without hesitation or regret.

With no further words, no explanations or warnings, Amelia threw herself at Xellos.

And planted the almightiest of kisses directly on the Trickster Priest's lips.


	30. Chapter 30

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 30

_Red hair._

_Crimson eyes._

_That voice… he knew that voice._

Who was she? That woman who had come out of nowhere and called his name? Why did she seem so familiar to him? What power was hers that he felt as if she'd touched him and drained him completely? She. Drain a Mazoku.

A Mazoku. He wasn't just 'a' Mazoku. He was the ultimate Mazoku. He was to destroy Jedah, to replace both the brat son of the Beastmaster and her lapdog Xellos. That's what Rezo had wanted. Shabranigdo, benevolent Lord Shabranigdo, had come to Rezo, granted the ex-Priest of Cephied with the power to create his successor.

He was that successor. Born to be the Greatest of all Greater Mazoku, created by Rezo's hand to bide the time until the mortal pawns could be set in place to force the Lord of Nightmares to destroy Hellmaster Phibrizo and and require that Jedah come out of hiding. The Balance had to be kept until all the players were present. And then… and then…

If he destroyed Jedah, Zelgadis would become… no, no. Best to not destroy him. Yes, it was best to put him in his place, to use Xellos as Hellmaster Phibrizo once had to influence Jedah's hand that way. He'd take those that Jedah had cared for, that Jedah loved and he'd break them one by one.

But Jedah didn't love. He was the… well. The very last Mazoku that Zelgadis would possibly have expected to come to the realization that he could love. It had to be a ruse, a ploy so that he would gain the trust and kinship of those he traveled with before he broke them for his own pleasure. The power derived would be even sweeter then, wouldn't it? The power taken from direct personal betrayal was almost the best.

Well, Zelgadis would have none of that. He would break them all himself while Jedah wasn't looking, break them to him so that one by one, the potential sources of power would be stripped away from Jedah. It would, of course, make Jedah angry, and an angry Jedah was bound to lose his temper and do something stupid.

In any event, not even that redhead would be safe. Who-ever she was. With some luck and a possible shove, she'd get in Jedah's way, and he'd remove her for Zelgadis. Or better yet, he'd make Xellos do that. Destroy the redhead right before Jedah's eyes. Turn her into so much wisp of a memory that would drift away into the eddies of time. Her face swirled in mist before his eyes. Who was she?

_Red hair._

_Bare feet softly slapping on stone._

_His name, cried out in anguish._

_Crimson eyes._

The scent of pine wafted over him.

He blinked as he walked slowly through the ruins of Ambervale, the real ruins, and not some half-imagined delusion brought on by the re-emergence of Self. They were cold, old ruins, showing the signs of time and weathering. Here and there lay bits of bone picked clean by wildlife and the random elements of nature. It was very nearly the perfect image of desolation and despair. Even if Jedah had shown mercy that Zelgadis had not, the original inhabitants had adamantly refused to return to the waste that had become of their homes. It was easier to let those who had died remain and give silent testimony to the rampant power of a Mazoku.

Power. It had vanished when she appeared. All instincts had said to flee, to run, to return to the shadows where he could be safe from those eyes. He'd almost not even had the strength to do that. She couldn't be mortal. He felt as if he'd been fighting a force almost his equal, and she hadn't even lifted a hand against him.

What was she? Was she an agent of Cephied? Cephied himself returned? Was she his opposite? Born or created to equal him, cancel out his abilities? Balance had to be kept… would she try to overcome him? Would she act to counter everything he did?

He knew her.

He didn't know how, but he knew her.

_Red hair._

_Crimson eyes._

_Her voice, screaming his name._

_He was chasing someone, running faster and faster still as they kept fading into the shadows before him._

_Running, chasing._

Who was she?

What was her name?

He staggered through the ruins, eyes open, unseeing. Fragmented bits of memories flickered before him, and he stumbled. He could see her in his mind, laughing, long red hair loose and flowing in the breeze. He'd been chasing her through these ruins, trying to catch her. But why? What was she that she could do so many things to him at once? His thoughts were enthralled by her, drawn to her like a moth was drawn to a flame.

Why did everything about her lead him to fire?

Who was she?

_Red hair._

What was her name?

_Crimson eyes._

Why was he obsessed?

_Smoke-kissed pine._

The world spun, he sank to his knees, unaware that he did so as he forced himself to remember. Back into the shadows of his mind he went, deeper back into the shattered fragments of memory and thought to try to recall her. She was his equal, his match in sword and magic, point to his counterpoint. Something… she hadn't given up on him, hadn't let him fall…

Memory flared as brilliantly as the clang of blade to blade as they circled each other in the forest clearing near the entrance to Shigai no Ishii. As brilliantly as the strange fire that burned when he'd pulled her to him in that sudden embrace. As sudden and sharply fierce as the emotions that ran through him as he fell to one knee before her and asked her the hardest question of his life.

She was…

_Lina._

Darkness opened and the world fell in on him.

Her whispered name was the only thing that echoed on the wind as Zelgadis fell unconscious to the ground.


	31. Chapter 31

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 31

Admittedly, that had not been the smartest thing that she could have done. There was putting your life in danger, and then there was knowingly stepping out unshielded directly into the unwavering path of an amplified Dragon Slave.

She wasn't sure who was more surprised.

The emotions in the room were swirling, an invisible miasma that had swelled like a concerto in a rising crescendo of string and brass in a powerful wall of sound. It hit Xellos just as strongly as the sudden kiss had, racing through him, as if it were his life's blood.

It was his life's blood.

He wasn't aware of anything but the power, the weakness gone as if it never had been. He felt almost as good as he had when he was cutting down the Golden Dragons so very long ago. This was It. This was that rush of power that most Mazoku spent their entire existences seeking, the pure and unadulterated impact of Good touching Evil.

Better yet, it was reflected by not one, not two, but three sources.

The only one not cringing was Amelia.

She sat back, those blue eyes glittering with that power that he couldn't touch, could only gaze at and wonder at it. Here and there, he saw a hint of gold in the glitter and he boggled at the thought that Amelia had called Chaos to aid her. The little Princess certainly was coming into her own.

"Um," Naga managed to say after a beat. "Ew." She blinked at her little sister, uncertain. What could have possessed Amelia to do something like that? Was it a remnant of whatever Xellos had used once upon a time to control Amelia?

Xellos wanted to reach out and take Amelia by the chin, to push her away in a visual rejection of her, just to squeeze a bit more emotion out of the moment, but he knew that Amelia wouldn't allow that to pass. Instead, he rose to his feet and moved to look down to her.

He never made it.

Before Xellos was fully on his feet, he was thrown clear across the room by a very, _very_ angry Jedah who hadn't even entered the room proper yet. If it hadn't been for Amelia's actions a few moments ago, Xellos would probably have been more than half-dead on the spot. He really needed to stop getting involved with Lina and her group. It was dangerous to his health.

"What are you doing, Xellos?" Several quick strides brought him into the room, a swift and powerful figure caught somewhere half between the impression of mortal and the shielding of power.

He was impressive, even like that.

Xellos didn't even bother to fight, to risk that which Amelia had given him. Instead, he remained still, allowing the pain from Jedah's attack to take him. It held him in place so that Jedah could sweep across the room and lift him by the robes with one hand.

"I told you to get them to safety. This isn't safe, Xellos." There was a dangerous edge to Jedah's voice, a harsh tone that spoke volumes of displeasure… and the inevitable desire and ability to correct the source of the displeasure. Those crystal blue eyes flashed, a warning surge of power glinting within them.

Xellos knew that this place wasn't safe, knew that he'd not had the energy to do anything more, knew that he had disappointed Jedah, and that any punishment that Jedah deemed necessary was the proper way of it.

And then, the random element acted again.

"Put him down, Jedah." The voice was sharp, imperious, absolute in its command. A mere mortal or a lesser Mazoku might have acted reflexively to her words. Jedah simply turned his head to cast that chill blue-eyed gaze on her. She was standing there, a proud figure that maybe wasn't so tall, but she carried herself with the hint of being so in her bearing. When her gaze locked with his, she didn't flinch.

Reality warped. The world twisted, perception changing and settling on a mist-shrouded area. Shades of grey swirled everywhere; giving wherever she was a strangely uniform appearance.

But still, she didn't flinch. Instead, she folded her arms and looked at Jedah, that same look that he'd been given by his mother when he'd misbehaved and managed to only injure his pet and not kill it. "I said to put him down, not slip us sideways into an offshoot of the Astral Plane to discuss it." The words were neatly snapped, and Amelia turned her back on him, looking out over the mists. "Zelgadis, if that was Zelgadis, nearly killed Xellos, Jedah. He did what he could. This situation will rapidly spiral out of control if you let it, and I don't intend to allow you to do that."

"Amelia, you don't know who… what I am," Jedah countered, no small amount of surprise in his voice. She seemed to be taking a great deal of things in stride, but then he didn't know that she had invoked the chaos that was Woman.

"Yes, I do, Jedah," Amelia sighed as she turned back to look at him. Quiet steps brought her to him, and she looked at him with steady eyes. "You are brother to the man that my best friend married, and loathe as you may be to admit it, you need Xellos at your side in this. Just as you need myself, Lina, my sister and everyone else."

Was she really that innocent? No, Jedah decided, she knew precisely what he was. She'd seen him, after all, screamed near bloody murder at his appearance as a Mazoku. Oh, Amelia knew, and she was telling him so. She was also telling him something else, if he'd cared to have listened.

She didn't hate him for what he was, and she wasn't afraid of him.

"You do know," he said quietly, allowing his appearance to settle as the Mazoku that he was, allowing the illusion to dissipate into the mist.

She smiled and touched his cheek. "Let's go, Jedah. Time enough for this discussion later."

When the world resettled around them, they were as if they'd not moved. Jedah put Xellos on his feet, and turned to look to the three within the room who were watching him. "It's time to talk."


	32. Chapter 32

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 32

In the still silence of solitude, Lina Inverse Greywords closed her eyes. He took shape in her mind, standing tall before her, shrouded in a black ensemble that was trimmed in impossibly darker black. In that quick moment that she had seen him, Zelgadis had seemed a startling study in shades of black, even his hair gone darker than Xellos', a deep violet-black… if there were such a color.

His eyes, however, had been crystalline, brilliant blue diamonds that touched on sapphire and yet held more fire and power than she could have imagined. The hardness of them had been terrifying and directly counter to everything that she had known of him. It was hard to get them out of her mind.

And yet, even with that darkness, even with the sheer Mazoku of his appearance and action… he'd been beyond breathtaking. Zelgadis had gone from handsome to heartbreakingly stunning.

She felt as if she couldn't breathe. She opened her eyes and walked to a wall, purring her hand out to touch it first, as if to reassure herself that it was a wall before moving to lean her shoulder onto the wall and try to catch her breath. Her heart was tearing and her mind spun. What could she do? She wasn't powerful enough to fight him. She'd been lucky in all her other battles with Mazoku… the thought of having to fight Zelgadis brought her heart to her teeth. She'd fought so hard for him, was it all gone? What could she do? What could she possibly do?

She'd told Jedah that she'd be fine. She'd lied, and they had both known it, but something had grabbed his attention and he'd vanished on the spot, Xellos' name hanging in the air behind him. Lina had wasted no time after that, closing her mind, closing off her Astral presence as best she could, calling her magic to bid her and be still, then she'd turned and run through the caves, choosing paths that she hadn't known existed, but seemed to open up just for her.

She'd run, and run, like she used to, in the days before she and Naga had bumped into each other. It had been a long time since she could just run flat-out, letting her feet carry her as her emotions worked themselves out through her motion. Every cavern she'd turned into had proven to have another beyond it, and even this one had a depth beyond that promised to have another place for her to hide within.

Hide. Was that what she was doing? Running away from her problems and hiding in the dark of… wait, it wasn't that dark. She realized that she could see… and she didn't have a torch or a lighting spell at hand. Lina wasn't alone.

She spun to see who was with her, eyes falling on the white-haired woman that Xellos had called Kessary. Those onyx eyes blinked twice, and then the woman offered a smile that Lina could only call artificial. "You really ought to keep closer to your companions. There are all sorts of dangers lurking in these caves." Her voice was honey-sweet, and every alarm within Lina's head went off.

Magic swelled back with Lina's next heartbeat, and silently the redheaded sorceress sent the talismans to life. "I wanted to be alone, and I'm not some scaredey-cat little girl that shrieks at things that come out of the shadows." Yeah, running had helped, but there was nothing like a good fight with a know-it-all minor Mazoku like this one appeared to be. "So if you've got something to say to me, I suggest you say it and be done with it before I send you back to whatever forsaken hole you crawled out of."

"You'd make a good Mazoku, you know," Kessary retorted, still smiling at Lina. "What do you think? After all, you could be with Zelgadis then, and…"

That had been the wrong thing to say. Crimson eyes narrowed, and Lina's talismans flared brilliantly. Almost before Kessary could react, Lina was halfway through her spell.

"Lord of the Darkness and Four Worlds, I beseech thy fragments; by all of the power thou possesseth, grant the heavens' wrath to my hand." Lina wasn't stepping back, but advancing on Kessary, the sheer aura of her fury making the lesser Mazoku back up in surprise.

And still Lina continued advancing. "Unleash the sword of dark, freezing nothingness; by our power, our combined might, let us walk as one along the path of destruction: LAGUNA BLADE!"

It sucked darkness into itself, crackling with furious energy. Kessary shifted, calling forth her own weapon, black eyes glittering at the chance for an all-out battle with Lina. She could still leave before things became truly problematic. "You can't hold that for long, Lina. The Blade will drain you, and then what will you have left to fight me with?"

Lina's answer was lost to Kessary on two accounts. The first was because Lina snarled her reply. The second, was because suddenly, Kessary's power was gone. She had only seconds to spot the glitter of light blue eyes in the shadows some distance behind Lina, and then the Laguna Blade came down on her in its raging fury.

Kessary was gone. Lina drew herself up, the Blade vanishing from her hands, and she looked around to see if Kessary had simply vanished. But with Kessary had gone the light, and Lina found herself suddenly standing in the deepest darkness she'd encountered. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. With a sigh, she cast a ball of light, sending it to drift slightly above her head. By the looks of it, her Blade had impacted something. Kessary? There wasn't any way of knowing, so Lina squared her shoulders and turned to head back out of the cavern and try to find her way out so that she could regroup, hopefully with everyone else and try to decide what was to be done about Zelgadis.


	33. Chapter 33

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 33

Zelgadis groaned as he rolled over and gingerly picked himself up out of the pile of charred wood he'd fallen into. Staggering to his feet, he frowned as he looked around. He hadn't an inkling of a clue where he was, let alone how he got here, but he suspected it had something to do with that woman in the room filled with light. She'd been trying to torture him, hadn't she? Maybe this was just the next phase, dumping him bodily into a burned-out town and watching him struggle to make some semblance of sense out of his surroundings. Well… whatever, here he was.

It occurred to him that he spent all that time lecturing Lina on being careful in an unknown place, and there he'd been the one to get into trouble. He'd never hear the end of it when she caught up with him.

That rueful thought prickled another thought into being. Where was Lina? Was she safe? Had she managed to get word to Amelia and Jedah? Had she badgered them into going looking for him? Well, if that was the case, he'd just find somewhere to shelter until Jedah came along. Who knew how the boy managed it, but he always knew how to find Zelgadis. Even in the middle of a hellacious blizzard.

He turned to look up at the sky, seeing the sun starting to set. Ah, with any luck, he'd recognize some of the stars. If not, there was always the knowledge that the sun was setting over there… so he could at least fix a mental compass. Well, first things second. Water, shelter, food. All three seemed to be in precious short supply.

Picking his way around rubble, Zelgadis frowned as he looked at the devastation. What in the world had happened here? He crossed what might have been the main road, and stopped in front of what could have once been a store. A sign was partially covered by dirt, and he nudged it with his toe to see what it said. When he did, his blood chilled and he fell hard to his knees, hands rising to his head. Oh, sweet Cepheid. Ambervale.

It always came back to Ambervale. His guilt, his grief at what he had done here, what he had been forced to do to the villagers, forced into being some dark godling by the whim of Rezo's hand. His reluctance to acknowledge anything but his Shamanic and lesser Black Magic powers, his shunting of the link to anything darker in nature. His near-disastrous rejection of the Mazoku Aspect that was now such an integral part of him. It all came back to Ambervale, the place where he had stood upon the edge of madness and destroyed everything with his own hands. And he'd enjoyed it.

Zelgadis felt as if he was going to be ill. He bowed his head, clenched his fists against his knees, fighting the depths of the emotions washing over him. Pain, grief, remorse, they all tasted bitter in his mouth as he knelt there, staring at his hands. His damnable hands. Angry tears tried to form in his eyes, but he closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to be still. He couldn't make amends; there was nothing left to which he could pay restitution, though he would pay it gladly, and in blood if it was demanded. Ambervale was dead. He had to let it go. In a way, that hurt more than the restitution ever could have.

He focused his thoughts, looked up to the stars as if for support for a moment, and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself. When he opened his mouth, a cry of absolute anguish escaped him, a desperately lonely sound that filled the valley with the sum total of his feelings. It echoed long after he'd expended his breath, as if the ruins were adding their own voice to the cry as well. It was haunting, sweeping through with boundless emotion, and in his imagination he wanted to see it carrying the lost souls of those he had tried so hard to corrupt. He didn't believe in ghosts.

He sat, listening to the echo as it faded, taking slow deep breaths to center and focus. He would stay calm, he would let his emotions still to quietness and sit there quiet, a calm contemplation of those who had died. It would be the only thing that he could do to honor their memories. He didn't even remember individual faces.

When he finally looked up from his quiet respect of the dead, he looked back up to the evening stars. He knew where he was, and he had to admit that he felt somewhat better about it, though it would be a lifetime before he could forgive himself. The wound across his soul still ached at the memory of lives so callously extinguished at his will, but it wasn't as sharp as it had been before. Maybe he'd needed to come back here, to release the pain and let it die here with the memories of those who had lived here.

After all, he was married to Lina now; he was a different man than he had been in those bleak days. The old life was gone, but not forgotten. It could never be forgotten, lest he become something far, far worse than he could even imagine. Or remotely wanted to try, but he knew it wouldn't be pretty by any stretch.

He stood, brushing the dirt off of his pants and then straightened. Where was Jedah? He expected the youth to come around the corner any moment now. Who knew how his brother traveled, but it didn't take him long to come bounding about and bowl him over when there was need. It was almost as if they were connected in some fashion. A throat was cleared behind him, and Zelgadis turned with every expectation of seeing Jedah.

It was Xellos.

And he looked as if he expected Zelgadis to tear him apart.


	34. Chapter 34

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 34

"First things first," Jedah said as he lifted a hand to halt the curious looks from becoming a litany of questions. "There is one not-so-minor fact that all of you should know." While he had shifted in appearance on the Astral, he had yet to drop the outward façade for all to see.

So he did just that.

It wasn't a percussive force of power, wasn't an overly blatant shift in appearance with glitter and show as he had used with Naga. It was a simplistic shift, as if they had blinked and he was just different.

The reactions were varied. Amelia nodded to herself while Naga tilted her head as she looked to her sister. Sylphiel took a step backwards, hand flying to her mouth as Gourry drew his sword and stepped in front of her. Xellos, still aware of the need for propriety, fell to one knee, bowing as he had once for the Lord of Nightmares.

"Get up, Xellos." Jedah muttered at the purple problem child. _Idiot._ _You'll have them all figuring it out. Stop acting appropriately for a change! Of all the times to be proper, Xellos…_ One of these days, Jedah would have to remind Xellos who was who. They'd probably both enjoy it. With a sigh, Jedah looked to Gourry. "I'd appreciate it if you'd put that away, Gourry. I need your brain, not your brawn right now."

"You're a Mazoku!" Gourry intelligently replied, and if the situation hadn't been so overwhelmingly tense, Amelia might have laughed at the blonde swordsman's mind-numbing ability to state the blatantly obvious as if it were a complete revelation to him.

"Yes, he's a Mazoku, Gourry. Now put your sword away. We have more important matters to attend to right now," Amelia said quietly, hoping that there were enough brain cells active for Gourry to think it through. The last thing she needed was to try to dissuade not one but two Mazoku from deciding that they weren't worth the time or effort and either leaving them to their own devices in this unknown cavern… or flattening them permanently.

Part of that resolved itself almost as soon as it occurred to her, for Xellos lifted his head, eyes snapping open and without word, he faded from view. As far as she could tell, he was gone.

"Only when he answers my question," Gourry retorted, glancing to the spot Xellos had just vacated, and then at Amelia. When he looked back to Jedah, his brilliant blue eyes were unusually intense, all seriousness in heft of sword and stance. "I want to know what you have done with Lina."

Jedah groaned inwardly, resisting the urge to smack himself on the forehead. He really should have said something sooner, but he hadn't had a chance to think things through, what with Amelia forcing his hand. "I haven't done anything with her or to her, Gourry." He shook his head slowly, eyes closing for a moment in a wince at the memory. When he spoke again, it was with a quiet voice tinged with sadness. "She got around from behind me in there, and she saw Zelgadis."

Silence fell as the implications of Lina seeing Zelgadis in Mazoku form settled into everyone in the room. It had been startling enough to everyone else, but to Lina, it must have been truly devastating. She loved him, everyone knew it, and she'd even sworn absolute vengeance on Xellos when she'd thought he'd done something to hurt Zelgadis.

At last, Sylphiel, wide eyed, broke the silence with a quiet question. "He… didn't hurt her… did he?" She'd given voice to a terrifying thought, and after seeing Zelgadis as she had, she was deathly afraid that he'd done something to Lina.

"No," Jedah replied as he looked squarely to the Cleric. "Beyond the shock of seeing him like that, she wasn't hurt. It was quite the opposite for him, though. I think she somehow managed to hurt him. He vanished right after she got past me." He always preferred to lay it on the line rather than flower it up. He left the secrets and the games up to Xellos. It amused the Trickster Priest to live up to his name.

_I'm okay, Jedah. I think… I'd just like to be alone… for a little while._

Her voice had been so quiet; it had reminded him of how she'd sounded when he first retrieved her from the dark room not so long ago. It did things to the heart he often tried to forget he was capable of having. It tugged at strings that bound him together, left him feeling strangely vulnerable for all his power. L-Sama help him, he'd come to care for Lina.

Gourry shifted his weight, eying Jedah with distrust. "How do we believe you? You said you were Zelgadis' little brother. You're a Mazoku." The blonde just wasn't going to let it go, not until someone had managed to beat it into him.

Jedah offered a wry smirk to the swordsman, allowing the simple blunt truth to stand as its own proof. "So is he, Gourry." Suddenly, Jedah frowned. Kessary was back. And with Lina on her own… he couldn't risk it. Without warning, just as Xellos had, Jedah vanished.

He appeared silently in the shadows, presence shielded tightly. He was right, Kessary had found Lina. She'd taunted her. Taunted Lina with becoming a Mazoku so she could be with Zelgadis. As he watched, Lina's anger filled the talismans and she called the Laguna Blade. It was a simple matter to wrap his power around Kessary, to hold her for the moment that Lina needed.

He left as Lina cast the Light spell, fading before the light could reveal his presence. He knew that he was bound to return to no small amount of chaos with Amelia, but return to that little group he would. Lina was on her way to them, and he'd just have to count on her to keep them all from lynching him.

It felt odd to be depending on Lina.

Maybe after all of this was over, he and Xellos could go off and have a bit of sport. A Mazoku vacation. After all, the mortal kind just hadn't gone how he'd imagined it.

With a sigh, Jedah willed himself back into the room where he'd left the others.


	35. Chapter 35

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 35

"Oh," Zelgadis said calmly, regarding Xellos with a cool gaze. "Are you part of this, then? I thought we had agreed to leave each other alone after the last run-in." He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked pointedly at the Trickster Priest as if to remind him that they were nearly equal in ability. Granted, he wasn't certain that he could pull off any serious fighting right now, but he'd give it a good, honest go if he needed to. Shabranigdo only knew what was going on in Zelgadis' mind.

"Ah…" began Xellos, and then he decided to play things properly and dropped to one knee. "My Lord." With luck, Zelgadis wouldn't be offended, but bemused, and Xellos could avoid being forced to lead him back to the others. Or worse. When the silence had seemed to extend for a bit too long, Xellos risked a peek up to see what was happening.

Zelgadis hadn't moved, was simply standing there looking at him with an eyebrow quirked. When he saw that Xellos was looking back at him, he tilted his head. "My Lord? Xellos, we've butted heads in the past, but I'm hardly a Mazoku Lord, let alone a higher rank than you. In fact, while I'm not entirely certain what I am, I know I'm not a Mazoku Lord," he finished somewhat wearily.

Xellos' mouth fell open in what could only be pure old fashioned astonishment. If there was a game afoot, then Xellos certainly wasn't aware of it, let alone the rules. He did so hate not being in charge, but did he dare challenge Zelgadis? With what he knew? What he'd seen? He'd seen Zelgadis, been controlled by Zelgadis… who was now standing before him perfectly normal and professing to be just that. Come to point, Zelgadis looked perfectly normal, pink skin and all.

Before Xellos could say anything to the contrary, Zelgadis waved a dismissing hand at him. "Enough with the games, Xellos. If you're here to badger, taunt or otherwise torture me, then you'd better leave now, before the woman from before comes back. Unless, of course, you're with her... in which case, you may as well get started and stop wasting time."

That was too much for even the Trickster Priest. "Woman?" He echoed lamely, purple eyes open with a wary glint within them. "What woman?" Realizing how strained and wary he sounded, he brought his staff out of hiding for something to do. "I'm not aware that there is a woman here, or nearby." He saw a chance to take a shot at Zelgadis and test what he was currently made of. "Unless you mean that woman… the one you happen to be standing on."

Zelgadis blanched, reflexively looking to his feet. There was nothing there, of course, but dirt. Glaring up, Zelgadis snarled, eyes flashing a sapphire warning. "You filthy cheat-"

Xellos was gone.

With a sigh, Zelgadis shook his head and moved to the remnants of a porch. He sat with a groan and looked around himself at the rubble. "Well, little brother, are you coming to meet me, or do I get to figure this one out on my own?" There was, of course, no-one to hear him ask, and equally, no-one to answer.

It wasn't half-night yet, maybe he should just get some sleep. This corner was all that was left of the porch, but it seemed large enough and felt sturdy enough to support him. His energy was tapped, which was why he hadn't just left, hadn't tried to find Lina and just go home, but he managed to pull a black cloak out of the shadows and wrap it about himself to help ward off chill. Beggars weren't choosers, so he stacked a few planks of wood together and called it a pillow of sorts. At least his hair wasn't wire anymore and wouldn't get stuck to it.

"Well," he said to no-one in particular (thereby avoiding the realization that he was talking to himself.) "It's not a feather bed with Lina, but it will just have to do." With that, the weary figure allowed himself to curl onto the porch and relax slightly, his eyes closing as he drifted first into the wary half-sleep of one long used to travel alone. Within minutes, however, he had slipped into a deeper sleep that seemed to seep into his soul and begin to knit wounds he didn't know he had.

They hovered in the distance, Jedah and Xellos both, watching Zelgadis as he made his pathetic bed, talked to himself about it, and ultimately lay down to sleep upon it. Jedah wasn't certain, but he could have sworn Zelgadis wasn't remotely the creature he'd faced in the caverns. By all sense, that was the same Zelgadis that had run off with Lina to the Outer World, the same Zelgadis that had told him so many years ago that Lina was to be respected. It didn't make sense. None of it made any sense at all, If Zelgadis was switching between his selves, if he'd broken without knowing it… what had caused it?

At Jedah's quiet voicing of that query, Xellos turned, his violet-black eyes open and steady. "He mentioned a woman torturing him. He asked me if I was working with her." It didn't take much to put the puzzle pieces together.

Zelgadis meant Cassandra.

Jedah went completely silent. Moments flew past, and then he shifted, the full aspect of who and what he was taking over his appearance and bearing. "Xellos, you are to return him to Saillune. Keep him there until I return, I don't care how. Do what you have to do, but keep him away from Lina while I'm gone."

Xellos bowed, knowing full well who had addressed him, and waited for Jedah to leave before he straightened to look to the sleeping Zelgadis. He had his orders. Keep Zelgadis in Saillune and away from Lina.

It wasn't going to be easy.

Then again, it never was.


	36. Chapter 36

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 36

When Jedah vanished, everyone had started talking at once. Gourry was convinced that Jedah had done something to Lina, Naga was of the opinion that it was Xellos who had done whatever-it-was, and Sylphiel thought maybe they'd both gone charging off to rescue Lina from Zelgadis. The only one with a relatively sane opinion was Amelia, and she was absolutely certain that it was entirely too loud for her own good. Longing for the strange silence that she had shared with Xellos, she plugged her ears with her fingers and tried to make herself be heard to hush them all so the could try to decide what to do next.

She was having about as much luck as Naga had casting her original spells… that was to say, none, for every time she raised her voice, so did everyone else in their own efforts to be heard. It was as if a bizarre madness had come over everyone in their concern over one woman, and they only wanted to stand around and shout about it. At least, they shouted until Sylphiel happened to turn around and spot the redhead of concern standing in the entrance, arms crossed as she watched them with a quizzical look on her face.

"Oh look! It's Lina!" Once Sylphiel spotted her, silence fell over the group.

Lina unfolded her arms and walked into the room, quirking an eyebrow at the group. "Anyone want to tell me what that was all about?" Yes, it was much easier to concern herself with things other than herself.

"We thought that Jedah had done something to you," Gourry said, eyeing Lina up and down like a big brother checking his little sister out for kissmarks after letting her stay out too long with an older boyfriend that their parents didn't like.

"He thought," Amelia interjected. She wasn't going to let Gourry's paranoia speak for her own. Naga nodded her agreement with Amelia, though she didn't offer any more commentary. Sylphiel just waited to see what Lina would say in reply. She wasn't one to judge, though she had to agree in part with her dear Gourry. Just how far could they trust Jedah?

Lina sighed and nodded slowly, though it was clear that she wasn't nodding to Gourry. "Didn't Jedah tell you that I told him I'd wanted some time to myself?" She spotted him across the room, half-cloaked in shadow. Knowing him, he'd probably vanished from sight when things got sticky, but stayed nearby in the shadows so he could keep an eye on them without being at the brunt end of Gourry's sword.

"I told them, Lina," Jedah piped up, knowing she'd seen him. "They just wouldn't believe me." He stepped out of the shadows, hands in his pockets, once more looking like the boyish little brother of the man who was missing.

Looks could be deceiving, yes, but it was the eyes that usually gave illusion away. Jedah's eyes showed only the sparkle of a young man on his first great adventure in the world. There was no indication of his duality of nature. It was almost as if he'd never been the Mazoku that she'd seen, Amelia realized with a slight shudder.

Naga put a hand on Amelia's arm at her sister's shiver, but any words she might have offered were lost as Gourry spun, glaring at Jedah. "He's a Mazoku, Lina. We can't trust him," The sword was out once more, blade glinting in the odd eldritch light.

There was serious doubt in Naga's mind that Gourry's sword could truly do anything to Jedah, but she had to give the blonde points for trying. She more she thought about it, she found that she liked Gourry. He might not have been the sharpest knife in the kit, but you knew where you stood with him.

The slipper bounced off of the back of Gourry's head, and Amelia did a doubletake. She hadn't seen Lina throw it. _So much for having figured that trick out._

"Of course he's a Mazoku, you idiot!" Lina snapped. "Now put your sword away and stop acting like the big brother I never needed." Sometimes Gourry's overbearing tendencies made Lina want to scream, and other times she thought it was kind of sweet… in a tooth-aching kind of way. Right now, she just wanted to smack him senseless so he'd stop this nonsense and they could back to the problem of what could be done about Zelgadis.

Sylphiel placed her hand on Gourry's sword arm and spoke quietly. "Maybe it would be a good idea to give him the benefit of a doubt, Gourry dear. He seems concerned enough over Zelgadis, and he did try to keep us safe…"

Gourry didn't look overly convinced, but before he could reply, Xellos appeared, all sense of panic about him. Violet eyes were open, and he looked at Jedah pointedly, the silence almost crackling between them.

"What?" Jedah spoke aloud, even though Xellos' comment hadn't been. His eyes widened and he stared hard at Xellos. "Where!" Alarm spread over his features, wiping nearly all color from his eyes, and he looked to Lina. "I'm sorry, there's no time to explain. You have to go back to Saillune, and you have to go back now."

The world swayed, shifted, and Lina blinked, her stomach wrenching with that familiar feeling of displacement.

Villagers were staring at them.

They had appeared out of thin air in the middle of Saillune. Worse, it was broad daylight, and Lina's feet were getting wet. She looked down to find that Jedah had planted her, and only her, in the fountain.

The villagers seemed to sense that Lina was a woman on a mission, and let her splash through the fountain without comment. Only one little child pointed, and when Naga gave her a saucy wink, the girl only giggled and buried her face in her mother's skirts. It was easier than risking Lina noticing. With admirable restraint, for she had noticed, Lina stepped out of the fountain and began to squelch her way to the Palace, Amelia, Naga, Sylphiel, and Gourry in tow.


	37. Chapter 37

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 37

Kessary was gone. Destroyed by a wisp of a redhead that could not only command the Power of Chaos, but she'd managed to snare the attentions of three high-ranking Mazoku without even trying. It was almost inconceivable that a mere mortal could have destroyed Kessary that simply, but destroy her she had. She probably considered it all in a day's work.

Cassandra considered killing Lina Inverse Greywords for her impudence, but then quickly changed her mind. The thought of having to justify herself to Jedah or Zelgadis… no, best to swiftly withdraw, to remove herself completely from the scene.

She'd lay low, wait until all was said and done, and then she'd create a new game with new rules and new players. Kessary would have to be replaced, but that was relatively easy, all things considered. Humans were always willing to give heart and soul for power. She shouldn't have too much difficulty finding one suitable to her needs. She even had time to wait, to sculpt one from birth. Yes, that's what she'd do. She'd find an infant and begin by influencing dreams. What were a few handful of years? Once the girl came of age, she'd have a most willing servant.

She began to think, pacing to and from across the dusty stone floor of an ancient ruin she'd hidden within. She'd find some half-talented family somewhere that lived on the edge of nothing. She'd change their luck, arrange a few… conveniences. Gift them with material wealth in exchange for the honor of teaching… no, that sounded too much like a fairy tale.

Waving her hand to dismiss that plan, she started over. She'd do what she did before, set herself up as a local witch-woman. She'd live my mortal standards, weave the illusion tightly around her. She'd have to be careful, though. Another kid like that little blonde brat asking questions… she paused. Blonde kid. With blue eyes and a singular lack of ability to comprehend even the simplest of concepts? No, couldn't have been him. She was being paranoid again. Just like she was now. No-one was nearby, she'd found a decent bolt-hole, and there weren't many who could trace her to here.

Except, she wasn't alone.

She spun to see him, to see the brat son of the Beastmaster standing there in a rare display of power, unmitigated fury glittering a strange light in his eyes. His power crackled around him, a lazy ripple of bluish violet tinted as dark as the deep night sky.

"You. You dared to make a bid. You saw him, with his heart, and you thought you could twist him to your use. But you didn't realize what he truly was until it was too late." Jedah was furious, his voice low and velvet-soft with danger. She was the reason; she had single-handedly undone all of his work with Zelgadis and nearly endangered them all with her blatant desire for power.

Jedah wanted her dead. Better, he could conceptualize almost a thousand different ways to go about it without giving it much thought at all. There was no need to be anything but casual about it, no need for secrecy or underhanded methods. He was what he was, and she'd likely learn it before it was over.

And it would be over. He couldn't let her live, not after this. Not after what she'd done, and what he planned to do. It just wouldn't… _do_. Half a thought sent his power aflame, plan beginning to take action and come into being. She wouldn't feel it coming, not until he let her. There were times that he reveled in the power at his command, times where he could be one with his power and not give a single remote thought to consequences, other than to damn them and do as he pleased. This was one of those times. He was enjoying it. He'd enjoy it all the more when she realized the truth.

She couldn't move. His power had flowed silently around her, catching her without her being aware of it. She looked at him, uncomprehending. How could he do that? _Unless…_ her eyes widened. Jedah. He… he was… "You're!" Her throat closed on her, voice cut off into a squeak by a sudden rush of powerful force.

His winter-blue eyes glittered with power unconcealed. "Yes. I am," Jedah replied, the haughty smirk of Mazoku the world over coming to his lips. "And now you know." He grinned darkly, looking to her in his own twisted amusement. "But you won't get to tell anyone because you're done. And unlike Garv or Phibrizzo, no-one will ever know you're gone." The last half of the last sentence was pronounced just so, as if to use each word individually as one more nail in the coffin that was building itself around her. He was the snake in the grass, the poisonous adder that had laid the trap and was prepared to spring. She was already dead and didn't yet know it.

"Wait, please!" Cassandra could feel that power rising, feel him preparing to tear her apart. She'd misjudged, thought Zelgadis to be the one. How wrong she'd been! It was him, Jedah, the innocent-seeming little brat. He was the one with the power, with the command and title. "I'll swear Pact to you. Like Xellos. My will is yours."

It was hardly any difficulty for Jedah to remove Cassandra from the Four Worlds. He was. After all, the son of Juuou. He could even do it without upsetting the balance of power. The smile that lit the winter blue eyes was dark, a sickeningly twisted parody of absolute glee. "Ah, but you see, my beautiful Cassandra, your will already is mine."

Then she realized it. It wasn't that she couldn't move. Her own magic was against her. He was in her mind, using her own powers from within to destroy her. She'd never felt fear, at least, not until just then. As her power rose against her, she lifted her head and cried out in sheer desperation. "Hel—"

She never finished the word.


	38. Chapter 38

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 38

Zelgadis woke, rolling over with the realization that his head felt as if it were filled with cottonballs. "Ungh," he muttered to himself, and his mouth… he must have slept with his mouth open. He coughed at the taste of ashes, and pressed his lips together. Ashes, ashes… Ambervale. Cerulean blue eyes snapped open as Zelgadis sat up with a gasp of shock.

He wasn't in Ambervale.

He was in an unfamiliar room, somewhere that looked like a one-room cabin. The bed was small but comfortable, and he could see across to the meager kitchen area. Zelgadis sat up, looking around. The interior was rustic, masculine in color and style, bland and yet somewhat familiar, as if he himself would choose the same. There was no sign of a feminine touch at all, no flowers, no photos, not even a well-dratted little doily to put a glass on top of in the vain hopes of protecting a priceless wooden finish.

There were two doors, one off to the left, centered in the wall and framed by two dustily curtained windows. The door to the right was the kind with the window on top, and given that it opened in the kitchen area, Zelgadis decided that it was the back door.

When he heard a rattling at the door to the left, he lay back into the bed, closing his eyes to maintain the illusion of sleep. No sense in blowing his cover and letting whoever it was coming into the cabin know that he was awake. He'd keep the element of surprise on his side this time. He'd done that once, thank you, and look where it had gotten him… some strange cabin in the middle of who-knew where.

After a bit more rattling, the door on the left opened and a familiar figure stepped in, closing it quietly behind him as if not to disturb anyone else in the cabin. Slow and quiet footsteps carried the figure across into the kitchen area, movements fluid and somehow more than human.

Zelgadis watched through half-lidded eyes as Xellos put a bag on the counter and gave it a bland look. For a moment, there was a vague temptation to alert the Trickster Priest that he was awake, but it was set aside in curiosity of what Xellos could possibly be doing. There was another curiosity that Xellos hadn't sensed that he was awake. None of this made any sense.

Gloved hands opened the bag and retrieved a small earthenware jug from within. Two cups followed, and some plates, and finally a wrapped parcel of food. Xellos was making breakfast? Manually? Curiosity gave rise to temptation once more, and Zelgadis sat up as quiet as a cat, and opened his mouth. "While I appreciate the effort, Xellos, I'm married and you're not my type."

Much to Zelgadis' amazement, Xellos jumped nearly a foot into the air. He turned to look across the cabin, violet eyes focused on Zelgadis for a moment, and then he nodded, as if to himself. "You're awake. Good. No doubt, you have a great many questions for me." Without explanation, he waved to the table. "Coffee and cinnamon rolls. Fresh and hot, so you may as well eat first." Xellos' voice was calm; he was acting as if nothing about this was strange.

Which it wasn't, actually. It was surreal.

Zelgadis noted with relief that he was fully dressed, the cloak still bundled about him. At least that hadn't vanished… or worse. He was starting to think that nothing was beyond Xellos at this point. Was Xellos the one who'd been behind this whole mess? A continuation of before? Had he put the woman Cassandra up to it? No… he had seemed genuinely unsettled by the revelation of her involvement. If that had been real.

The scent of the cinnamon rolls finally crept over to him, and he shook his head as he left the bed. "Jedah put you up to this," he observed, because there was no other way that Xellos could have known of that particular combination. "He couldn't get to me in Ambervale, so he coerced you into doing it for him. Though how he's managed it, I can't even begin to imagine."

With a barely hidden laugh at the thought of his younger brother having anything over Xellos that could possibly be used as incentive to play housemaid, Zelgadis sighed and decided to allow the strange morning to continue, to let the game play itself out. At least he'd get breakfast out of it. Then perhaps he'd have gathered enough energy to collect himself and depart this cabin and go find Lina.

"Your brother did ask me to ensure that you were safe and well. He said that he'd be along in a bit and not to go anywhere. He had a few things to take care of before he gets here," Xellos said as he watched Zelgadis run a hand through his perfectly normal hair and walk across the cabin. There were the odd similarities or two shared by Jedah and Zelgadis, but Jedah's personality wasn't nearly as dark as one might think it ought to have been. Then again, that was part of what Xellos liked about him.

Zelgadis broke his train of thought again. "Care to explain?"

'Can.' Tiny little word, really. With huge possibilities… and repercussions. Often tempered by 'Should' and 'Shouldn't.' Xellos knew better to say his reasons, even though he could. Jedah would kill him. Or worse. There was a pause, and then out came the knowing smile and the predictable waggle of the finger. "I'm afraid that's a secret."

Zelgadis echoed the last two words as he pulled out a chair and sat. "Well, if I have to play in this farce, I may as well enjoy it. Go ahead, here I am. Serve me breakfast."

The Trickster Priest froze. He hadn't considered that. But there it was, and here he was… damn that capricious son of Beastmaster!


	39. Chapter 39

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 39

Lina had left a soggy trail across the entrance of the Palace… an action that had sent servants flying to clean it up, Amelia cringing, and Naga laughing madly at the ensuing mayhem. Lina let her laugh. It helped reduce the stress they were all feeling.

Her mind was still spinning, still absorbing the expression on Xellos' face when he'd appeared, the near-instantaneous panic that had hit Jedah, the speed at which it had all happened.

She was almost afraid to find out what had happened to alarm them so.

And yet, she had to know. It pertained to Zelgadis. She needed to know.

Off to her borrowed rooms Lina went, waving a hand at the queries of her companions. "I'm going to bathe and change. Let's regroup in a bit." It wasn't a lie, she was going to clean herself up and get a change of clothes. She just had another plan too. One that was potentially dangerous and she couldn't ask them to take part. She had a direct link to Zelgadis, and the tool she needed was the gift that Jedah had brought her, the gemstone that had been a gift from Zelgadis. She'd thought of it earlier, thought of the link it could yet provide, but it would have been too obvious to pull it out of her shirt and work the spell needed to locate Zelgadis in front of everyone. She'd used the stone to locate him before, it had to work again. And then, maybe, just maybe, she could use that spell. The one that she had learned from Filia, and had used to take them all to WolfPack Island. If she was lucky and there weren't any barriers. She was counting on it being a bit easier because she was only moving herself this time.

As Lina turned down the hallway to her room, Naga followed quietly, intent on having a few words with Lina before the redheaded sorceress did anything that might result in another near disaster. Since when had she become the voice of reason? The older Princess caught Lina by the arm, and the younger woman spun to see the steady blue gaze. "Whatever you're planning, Lina… you have to do it alone?"

When Lina looked away and tugged her arm free, Naga only nodded. She'd known it, but she had to say it anyway. "Be careful, Lina. And if you don't come out of there in a reasonable amount of time I'll find that Mazoku brat and send his sorry butt in after you." She meant Jedah, though how she thought she might drag his 'sorry butt' into doing anything was, at the moment, beyond her.

That made Lina turn back and look to Naga for a moment, searching the older Princess' gaze. "Naga… I…" For that moment, that immeasurably short span of time that Lina's crimson eyes met Naga's blue ones, the redhead seemed suddenly shy and vulnerable. It passed between them like a ghost, the memory of a mirror and shyer versions of the pair of them.

Infinite possibilities, infinite combinations.

One reality.

And then, Lina's mouth quirked, and Naga knew. No matter what happened, Lina would be Lina. And part of that meant never giving up. Not even when the odds looked this stacked against her. "Do what you have to, Naga, but if he interrupts my bath, I'll knock you both into the next city." And with that, Lina entered her room and closed the door behind her.

Naga felt the ward click into place and shook her head. "I hope you will, Lina. I hope you will."

Inside the room, forehead to the door, Lina sighed. _I hope so too, Naga,_ she thought in reply to Naga's comment, and then steeled herself. The bath had been drawn, and she made fast work of it, changing into a quiet black ensemble after. She'd been wearing a lot of black lately, maybe she was telling herself something.

She pulled the necklace out, looking at the stone that shifted in color so as to appear aquamarine one moment, sapphire the next. It felt as if it slept, a promise of power there to use… if only one knew how to access it.

"You who sail the seas of the astral plane, reveal these shadows to me!"

Nothing happened, the stone hanging from the chain, as if lost in a deep sleep. Frowning, Lina eyed the stone, seeing that the inner fire wasn't there. Fine, it wanted to play hard to get, she could handle that. She'd learned a bit in her experiencing Zelgadis' memories.

Cupping her hands around the necklace, she summoned a ball of light, setting that glow around the gem so that the stone sparkled in the center. "Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite, let thy power be called from beyond. Let the power of my soul join with it, bind to it and set itself free upon the Astral Plane. By the light of this gem, let these shadows be revealed!"

The stone in her hands began to glow of its own accord, awakened into a dazzling blue fire that seemed to grow, then enveloped Lina's own light spell, and then, she fell.

Down, up, sideways, around, distance and time was nonexistent, a fragment of her feeble imagination. She ignored it all, her attention fixed upon the gem whose brilliant light almost hurt to behold.

And then, it was gone.

She turned, still in the Astral, looking at what appeared to be ruins of a city. All around her were clear signs of fire, buildings charred and left to ruin.

As the gem in her hands faded to a dusky blue, she recognized where she was. "I'm in Ambervale. Oh, sweet Cepheid, somehow it all comes back to this. This is where it all started."

Before she could move, before she could look to see if Zelgadis was there as well, a black clad figure appeared beside her, grabbing her and pulling her backwards into darkness.


	40. Chapter 40

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 40

Zelgadis had to admit, Xellos had gotten almost everything right. The coffee had been good, the cinnamon rolls stellar. The only thing that had been lacking was the company. Swallowing the last of his second cinnamon roll, he picked up his coffee mug and took a sip.

"Now then," Zelgadis said as he set the mug down. "I've eaten. Would you care to explain any of this, Xellos? We both know that there's no point in starting a fight; we're too well matched." They'd both learned that the last time they hadn't seen precisely eye to eye… so why was Xellos looking at him like that?

"I would, Zelgadis, but that would ruin things… and I'm unfortunately bound against telling you," Xellos replied. Yes, he was bound. Words formed, but wouldn't pass his lips. He'd tried it while Zelgadis was asleep. When had Jedah done that?

Aquamarine eyes narrowed and Zelgadis cast an unbelieving glance at the Trickster Priest. "I don't believe you, Xellos. Now start talking or I'll make you start talking." It was no idle threat, he knew that he could at least match Xellos in power, perhaps could exceed him. At least, that had been the impression Xellos had given when he'd deferred to Zelgadis in Ambervale.

Ambervale.

Instantly, Zelgadis changed his mind. "Ambervale." He watched Xellos frown slightly, wondered at the near-mortal reaction, and smirked. "Why does it all come back there, Xellos? Why return me time again to the place that my power destroyed? Is it some sick little way that you can twist me around over?"

Xellos didn't know how to answer. He didn't know if he could answer. "Zelgadis… a… lot happened in Ambervale." He started slowly, trying to think of what he could say that would buy him the time needed for Jedah to arrive and not get himself killed in the interim. "Even I don't know all of what happened, because I wasn't there."

Xellos hadn't been there. Zelgadis realized that was true, a little ripple of shock cascading over him. But how did he know that? Something danced at the edge of his mind, a memory gone hazy with time and something else. Magic. Someone's magic. His own memories tingled with someone else's touch, as if someone had made themselves at home in his mind and shuffled through his memories as if they were pages in a book.

Xellos recognized that look in Zelgadis' eyes. He was sensing the changes, sensing what had been done. Jedah would have Xellos shredded bit by bit if he'd given Zelgadis reason to poke those changes out in to the open and break the seal on the memories. "What I can tell you is the person who can explain it all will be here soon. This is his cabin, and he… ordered me to see that you were in good care for his arrival."

That was enough to break Zelgadis' contemplation of the sealed memories and make the aquamarine eyes lift to violet ones. "Ordered you? Someone above you in the hierarchy?" He sat back, regarding Xellos in amusement. "Well then, this should be interesting. Fine, Xellos. I'll wait and see who it is that holds such sway over you. Must be quite an impressive individual."

Xellos actually choked back a smirk and rose from his seat at the table. "Impressive is a word for him, yes. Now then, would you care for anything else? There isn't much here, but you are free to make full use of the cabin's amenities while you wait."

A shower. Zelgadis wanted a shower. Better would be a long soak in a hot tub, but he wasn't certain that a place this rustic had such facilities. "I'm covered in the dust of Ambervale." The dust of his past transgressions. "Are there bathing facilities and perhaps fresh clothing available?"

Xellos indicated the door behind him in the kitchen. "There is a small bathing facility in that room, and fresh clothing is a simple matter. Your host bids you enjoy a bath and please refrain from attempting to depart through the small window above the tub."

Zelgadis quirked an eyebrow. "My host seems remarkably well-informed in regards to my… behavior. I trust, then, that he knows me… or as met me at one time." Anything to try to pull some inkling of a clue as to the owner of the cabin's identity out of the stubborn Mazoku.

"He merely said that it was something he might do under the circumstances," Xellos parried, opening the kitchen door for Zelgadis. "Towels are on the wall to your right as you enter. Do enjoy your bath." The sooner Jedah got here, the better, in Xellos' mind. This was starting to hurt his teeth. One slip, one truth revealed and Zelgadis could take him apart… and if Zelgadis didn't, Jedah would.

Zelgadis spent an hour soaking and relaxing as best he could in the bath, washing off the dust and dirt. He'd cast his magic about a bit, but found the cabin was tightly shielded by a magical force much stronger than his own. At length, he stepped out and dried himself off, wrapping a towel around his waist and moving back into the cabin proper.

It was empty, though there were clothes folded on the bed, and he moved across to collect them and return to the bath. He had no desire to be caught by Xellos or host in mid-dress, thank you. Dressing quickly, he re-entered the cabin in time hear the front door close. "Xellos, I'm tired of this. If you're playing a game, then it ends now. Tell my host, whoever he is, that I'm tired of waiting for him and I'm ready to be done with this."

The reply came, but it wasn't Xellos' voice. "Ah, Zelgadis! I'm sorry I'm late… I do hope you're not too terribly upset with me." Jedah was standing by the window, hands clasped behind his back, smiling brilliantly at him, the gold and purple trim of his clothing glittering in the light.

It hit Zelgadis like a bolt of lightning. Jedah was his host.

And Jedah was a Mazoku.


	41. Chapter 41

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 41

Given that Zelgadis hadn't immediately gone defensive, hadn't yelled or cursed, Jedah thought things were off to an almost decent start. Granted, Zelgadis had that "caught out in the cold" expression, but as he watched, the aquamarine eyes settled into a grim contemplation of the cold reality before him.

"When did you make the Pact, Jedah?" It was spoken in an even tone. What Zelgadis wanted to say was, "When did I fail you?" but he knew he hadn't been there, indeed should have expected Jedah to make similar choices to his own. Younger brother followed older brother entirely too closely at times.

Jedah blinked. Pact? He had to laugh, suddenly understanding why Zelgadis was handling things so... well. Zelgadis thought that Jedah had made the Mazoku Pact with someone. It was always amazing how people could be staring down the cold hard truth and still manage to overlook something about it. "I'm afraid I never made the Pact, Zelgadis." Jedah admitted softly. "I have always been a Mazoku, though I much prefer to keep it private knowledge, reserving it for when it is needed."

Zelgadis spent a moment wrapping his brain around that. Frowning, he walked to Jedah, his light eyes searching Jedah's. "You've always been a Mazoku," he repeated, as if for clarification. It was all there, glittering within those brilliant eyes that he had thought he'd known. How had he missed it? He'd never seen anger or malice in Jedah.

Jedah nodded slowly, his winter blue eyes not shifting from that searching gaze. "I was born of the shadows that were cast by Shabranigdo, Zelgadis. My… mother is Zelas Metallium. Xellos answers my command, when it suits me." He was spelling it out for Zelgadis, drawing the picture with clear lines. A strange case of necessity dictated it. He didn't want to do any further damage, didn't want to risk pushing Zelgadis too hard. He knew all too well what could happen if he did.

"Ah," Zelgadis said, turning to move to a chair by the window and sit slowly, his entire manner that of a man defeated. "And precisely when were you planning to tell me, Jedah? When was I to learn that you aren't my little brother?"

Jedah was surprised to feel a slight tinge of discomfort. Damn his father for his heart. "Zelgadis... I'm not your brother, no. But we are related." He sighed, shaking his head and walking to a chair opposite the one where Zelgadis sat. "Honestly and ideally, you were never to find out. You were supposed to live a happy little mortal life, never to know that once upon a time, your family learned to break the boundary that separated Man from Mazoku. But that all changed when Rezo intervened."

"Rezo… intervened," Zelgadis echoed. Things had gone from strange to bizarre and straight on into surreal. But now… now, he couldn't begin to quantify how far out in 'left field' he was feeling. There weren't words for it, for the ones he knew didn't remotely scratch the surface. "What exactly does that mean, Jedah?"

"What do you recall of your youth, Zelgadis? Do you remember where you were born, where you grew up?" Jedah's voice was quiet, far more adult than Zelgadis had ever heard before. It was as if the youth… man… sitting in the chair across from him was older, not younger, and older by an uncomfortable span of years.

"Of course I remember where I was…" Zelgadis' voice trailed off. He didn't remember where he was born. He frowned, casting an uncertain glance to Jedah, then looking to his hands. "I grew up in Rezo's tower. Xolf and Rodimus were my protectors. When I was twelve, Rezo turned me into a monster." The words were hollow now. Once, they would have been tainted with venom and followed by a curse.

Jedah shook his head. "You were born in a small town that was in the grip of a hideous plague. Your father died days before you were born, and your mother gave her life to bear the only healthy child the town had seen for months." He chose his words carefully, knowing that he could easily hurt Zelgadis, and yet… strangely contrary to his supposed nature, he had no desire to do so.

"You had magic, Zelgadis. Strong healing magic, the kind that only comes along once in a generation. Rezo followed bloodlines to find you and rescue you. Back then, he was still Rezo the Red Priest. He hadn't been tainted by the blood that ran deep within his veins. He hadn't yet crossed that boundary." Jedah sat back, watching, waiting to see what Zelgadis would say.

Zelgadis' hand lifted to his temple, fingers shaking slightly as he touched cool fingers to a forehead that felt as if it were on fire. "He wanted to raise me so that I could grant him his sight. So he stole me. And when my powers weren't strong enough, he had no further use for me." He lifted his head, looking at Jedah with a piercing blue gaze. "I thought that my family had been left behind. I thought that _you_ had been left behind. And all this time, I was living with a lie for a memory. Details carefully blurred, secrets held concealed." Anger was at last beginning to ripple into him, to give him the metal foothold that he needed to rip the seal off of the memories.

Jedah felt the magic fueled by the anger, felt the seal crumble under Zelgadis' mental touch. He watched those brilliant blue topaz eyes as the memories flooded through Zelgadis, as realization and understanding fueled that anger… and then shattered into pain.

"Ambervale. I was born in Ambervale," Zelgadis whispered, all color drained from face and voice. Shock filled him, though he felt empty, as if there were nothing in his soul and he was once more a puppet dancing on the strings held by a madman. "I was born there and I destroyed it."

The next words chilled them both.

"And I enjoyed it."


	42. Chapter 42

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 42

Over the years that she'd traveled the world, though no-one would ever believe it, Naga had developed a habit: she thought. And she did her best thinking while walking, so she walked. She walked and thought, thought and walked. Sometimes it led her to cities unknown. Sometimes it led her in circles. Today it was out to the Palace Gardens, where she could stretch her legs and still not end up too far from home.

It was a decent afternoon for walking, too… not too hot with a gentle breeze. She'd left Lina in her room and wandered the halls of the Palace before deciding to take to the garden paths for a bit. There was less a risk of running into some poor servant this way, which allowed her to sink into her thoughts and pick at the problems at hand.

As she walked along, she considered what she knew.

First, Zelgadis was lost, become a powerful Mazoku with whereabouts unknown. That was bad on so many varied levels that Naga couldn't pick just one level of badness. It upset Lina, which just led to all sorts of problems, from the minor kind like not knowing when the nearby small towns would start randomly exploding to the big kind that resulted in the really big spells being called down from the Great Sea of Chaos to set everything to ruin.

Second was Jedah. Beyond being a powerful Mazoku, he seemed about as concerned about Zelgadis as the rest of him. But he was an enigma, and Naga didn't like people being akin to words she couldn't spell. It made her feel as dumb as Gourry looked… and she was Naga, the White Serpent, she wasn't supposed to look dumb. Well, okay. She hadn't been the White Serpent since… she forced her thoughts back on track.

Xellos... Lina had called him a fruitcake on several occasions, and he was a Mazoku too, so Naga thought he was a reasonable third on her list. As far as she could tell, he was up to his eyeballs in this, though was loathe to admit it. He was clearly beholden to Jedah, though how the General-Priest of Beastmaster was beholden to anyone other than Beastmaster herself was beyond Naga. The only thing that she could think was to kick up her evaluation of Jedah a notch. Or two.

It was a puzzle how those three fit together, and one thing Naga didn't care for was puzzles. Especially when the pieces rendered any of her friends to tears. Even more so when the aforementioned friend was Lina Inverse.

Thinking of Lina made Naga add another mental tick on her list. Lina was most definitely fourth.

The redhead was up to something, Naga just knew it. She didn't know what, didn't know how, but she would bank her best bikini on it. Lina was bound to be in over her head, running off half-cocked and ready to blast anyone and anything in her way. Including Naga, if she tried to figure out what Lina was up to. With a small sound of frustration, the eldest Princess of Saillune flopped down rather ungracefully on the bench that looked out over the fish pond.

"Yeah… I know," agreed Amelia, looking up from her position by the water's edge. She'd been feeding the koi when her sister had walked up. "I do feel bad for Lina. I mean, why can't she and Zelgadis be happy?" Her bright blue eyes settled on Naga's careless slouch on the bench, and for a moment she was jealous of her older sister's ability to simply be herself. Maybe it came with age.

Naga looked over and shrugged. "You know that Lina thrives on adversity. If there isn't something or someone to hit with a fireball or a Dragon Slave, she's out to deliberately cause trouble. That's just who she is." _Oh, dear Cepheid, I've grown up and hadn't even noticed doing it!_

Amelia had to laugh softly. "You have a point…" Lina was always out chasing after something. The redheaded sorceress just couldn't sit still for trying. If there was one thing that Amelia had learned in her travels with Lina, it was that life was never dull around the redhead. The younger princess looked back to the water, fish food forgotten in her hands. "I just wish that that adversity didn't have to use Zelgadis."

Naga quirked an eyebrow and rose from the bench to walk up to her sister. She put a hand on Amelia's shoulder and looked at the woman her sister was becoming. "You care for him, don't you?" She'd suspected something had been there once upon a time, imagined that had been the reason behind her sister's strong reaction to the swordsman's 'death' but hadn't been able to say anything at the time because she'd been in the care of the city clerics.

"I…" Amelia started to say, but closed her mouth. How could she explain how much she cared for Zelgadis, how much she wanted him to be happy and how she knew that she couldn't make him happy? "He is a very dear friend, and I want him to be happy." It was as close to truth as she could make it without admitting that she loved him. She figured Naga knew anyway.

Naga nodded, squeezing Amelia's shoulder slightly before moving to take a bit of bread from her sister and toss it to the waiting fish. "Zelgadis is good at heart. I don't understand what's going on, but I have faith that he's fighting for himself as hard as he can." As they watched, a single koi leapt out of the water, twisted, and dove back in with a small splash.

Before Amelia could reply, there came a shrill scream from the residential wing of the Palace. There was a pause, and Naga and Amelia cried out at the same time: "Lina!" Fish, food, and heartache forgotten, the two took off for the sorceress' room at a dead run.


	43. Chapter 43

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 43

Under normal circumstances, Lina Inverse was in no way, shape, or form what one could remotely consider classifying as a shrinking violet. However, these weren't normal circumstances, so she was even farther from it. She'd bathed in her borrowed room, and then she'd used the necklace that Zelgadis had given her as a focus for her Astral Gate. Anyone capable of attacking her physically on the Astral Plane had to be either Astral themselves… or of the Astral Plane.

That specialty was reserved for those such as herself… or a Mazoku. Given that any Mazoku with a half of a grain of sense knew better than to try to attack her… it had to be one of a very select few. Namely Cassandra and her ilk. If Lina had truly destroyed Kessary, there was little doubt in her mind that Cassandra would want revenge.

With that firmly in mind, Lina had started to fight whoever it was that had grabbed her. She tried to cast spells, and failing that, she kicked, bit, tried to scratch, anything to get free. It had worked, had caught her assailant by surprise, and she'd gotten free, but a strange leaden sensation made her arms and legs heavy. It was getting hard to think, hard to focus her thoughts, hard to…

She opened her eyes, though it felt as if it required every ounce of her concentration to do even that. Physical… self. She wasn't Astral. How did that happen? She'd been… Astral… it was hard to think while trying to focus her eyes. She should close her eyes. Nothing was in focus anyway, she couldn't focus. Thoughts, vision, nothing made any sense. Close her eyes, yes, that's what she ought to do.

Crimson eyes closed, and Lina lay there for a moment, trying to think. What in the name of L-Sama had happened to her? She felt like been run over by… Ambervale? She'd been in Ambervale… Astral… why had she gone there… Zelgadis? Yes, Naga said to be a Mazoku in her bath. Careful hadn't done the spell. Around the koi pond, standing in Ambervale. Yes, Ambervale. It all came back to Ambervale. A glittering gem in a pendant, lost to fire.

A slight groan escaped her lips as her thoughts spiraled into chaos, and she felt a warm wet cloth placed on her forehead. A voice, strange and yet familiar spoke softly in her ear. "Shh." She ought to know that voice, ought to know… she knew who that was, but couldn't… couldn't what? Couldn't decide what? Oh, who that was. Who was that, anyway? Lina opened her eyes and frowned blearily.

"Rest, Lina." Rest. That sounded like something that she could do. The necklace would stand in the fountain. As she closed her eyes, two maddeningly familiar voices conversed quietly to the side, and she tried to listen to attempt to identify them.

"She's tougher than she looks." That was a dry voice, male, rather raspy. It reminded her of old oiled leather sliding over rocks.

"And you aren't as tough as you look. Whatever happened got you both. Now you be still too…" The first voice, the one that wanted her to rest. Oh… right. Rest… Whatever else was said was lost as Lina faded into the release of unconsciousness.

A soft warmth crept into Lina's awareness, a warmth of light on her cheek and she opened an eye to see that it was a tiny ray of sunlight that had peeked its way through the curtains to shine on her. Taking a chance, she opened her other eye, lifting her head from the pillow to look around. This was her room in Saillune's Royal Palace. She pushed herself up further, wondering when she'd fallen into the bed, and how long she'd been laying in one place. Her left arm was asleep. Come to think on it, so was her left leg. Her right arm was shaky, but it supported her weight.

"What the…?" Her voice cracked and Lina blinked at herself, then blinked again as Naga's face came into view. The wide blue eyes of the Eldest Princess were worried, and on second glance, it looked as if Naga hadn't slept in at least a day.

"Ah, Lina! You're awake! Here, lay back down, you probably shouldn't be up yet," the eldest Princess of Saillune said, moving to help Lina lay back down. At first the older woman seemed a touch nervous about touching Lina, but she pushed past it to press a hand to Lina's good arm and offer assistance.

It didn't take much persuasion, for Lina had to admit that she wasn't feeling all that well at all. As she settled back into the pillow, she shifted her gaze to Naga. "What happened, Naga? I feel… like…" her voice trailed off. She couldn't think of words to describe how bad she felt.

"Lina… do you remember what happened to you?" Naga asked as she pulled the blanket up to Lina's waist. "We found you on the floor of your room."

"I…" Lina frowned as she thought it through. "I cast the Astral Gate and went looking for Zelgadis. But… I didn't stay long…"

Naga sighed and shook her head. "Lina, we returned to the Palace around ten in the morning. It was slightly before dinner when we found you. You'd missed lunch, and that's what found you. The maid brought a meal to your room."

Hours…? Lina frowned and looked at Naga. "No, I wasn't there that long. In fact… " Memory filtered back, hands grabbing her, someone dragging her back into the darkness, back into the depths of nothingness. "Someone grabbed me. Someone… took me forcefully from the Astral Ambervale."

"That, Lina, would have been me," a quiet voice said from outside of Lina's line of sight. Regardless, the redheaded sorceress knew who had spoken. No matter how weak, how raspy or faintly whispered it might have been, there was no missing that voice.

Xellos had been the person who had grabbed her.


	44. Chapter 44

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 44

Jedah wasn't certain how he could reply to Zelgadis' admission. "That wasn't truly you, Zelgadis. It was part Shabranigdo using you as a puppet through Rezo…" It sounded pretty pathetic to Jedah too. "This is incredible," Jedah said, getting up from his seat and beginning to pace as if he were simply a mortal. He placed his hand over his eyes for a moment, pinched at the bridge of his nose and turned to look to Zelgadis.

"Listen to me. I'm a Mazoku, and I'm standing here telling you that atrocious acts that you committed weren't your fault." It was pretty absurd, and Jedah had to laugh at it. Shaking his head, he looked out the window for a moment before he looked back to Zelgadis. "This just tops every absurdity I've ever encountered… let alone created."

The look that he got from Zelgadis was dry and disbelieving. "After everything I've just discovered, do you honestly expect me to believe anything that you say or do? You've lied to me, Jedah, if that is your name. You've lied to me since the beginning. You hadn't been looking for me since you learned I'd run away to live with Rezo. You aren't my brother. You aren't even mortal!" Anger built behind every word, the cold anger fueled by the pain of betrayal.

"Neither are you, Zelgadis!" Jedah snapped in reply. His own magic flared with his anger, and he turned away from Zelgadis, fighting to contain it. Anger and magic often ran hand in hand, and Jedah's was all too close to his skin. Damn his heart. "None of this was my choice, Zelgadis," he said quietly, fixing his gaze at a point just before the wall of the cabin. "I preferred to be your hopelessly lucky little brother, wide-eyed and underfoot. I didn't want this, you didn't want this. But now, we're here, and we have to make the best of the situation that we find ourselves in."

There was a pause, a flicker of… something that tried to attract Jedah's attention. He pushed it aside, ignoring it in favor of watching Zelgadis. It was becoming harder and harder to read the man in black, as if he were starting to take the steps required to block Jedah from his mind. The mental tug came again, more insistent, and Jedah frowned internally. Someone wanted his attention badly.

_Xellos, go see to that. I'm busy._

It wasn't quite an order, but it was close, and Xellos knew not to push Jedah. He still wasn't fully recovered, but he'd go. It was probably nothing that he couldn't handle anyway. With a mental bow, the Trickster Priest faded from the shadows of Jedah's mind and went to investigate what was trying to get Jedah's attention.

"You're powerful, Zelgadis. Too powerful. You don't know the half of what you can do," Jedah continued, having given no outward indication of the mental tug or the nudging of Xellos. His shoulders drooped; he did it without realizing it, the mortal mannerisms too deeply ingrained by the years of pretending to be the hapless brother. "What you did in Ambervale was trivial compared to your full powers. I couldn't even contain you myself if you were hell-bent on doing something." He couldn't keep Zelgadis here if he wanted to leave. He couldn't fight him. It was beyond rank, beyond ability. It was the simple fact that Jedah considered himself unlucky enough to have a heart. He turned, looking to Zelgadis calmly with those winter blue eyes, waiting to see what the man he'd called brother would do.

Zelgadis could sense Jedah's anxiety, could read the man who was Mazoku as easily as he could read a book. It was strange, how easily his thoughts could flicker through Jedah's, how easily he could read that Jedah wasn't lying, that he was laying the cold, hard, honest truth out on the line and taking it on some bizarre form of faith that Zelgadis would believe.

It unsettled Zelgadis that Jedah couldn't tell that his thoughts were so open. It disturbed him that he couldn't see any reason not to trust Jedah now. He knew Jedah spoke the truth, even as he knew that Jedah had lied in the past. And yet, Zelgadis didn't want to trust. To trust would mean that he accepted. And accepting was the last thing on Zelgadis' mind.

Instinct said to fight… but what instinct? Man, or Mazoku? What was he? Zelgadis longed to know who and what he was, for he certainly wasn't just your average creature. Almost any answer would do, as long as it was a truthful answer. Was he Man, was he Mazoku… was he worse? He had a suspicion, but he had no answers. And to get an answer… he had to ask a question. And that question wasn't an easy one to ask.

As Jedah watched, he could see the natures; see the shadow of the Mazoku that Zelgadis could be. He could see the darkening; see the pall that it cast over the man in the chair across the room from him. He saw it all and he regretted it. He regretted that too, for he knew that he shouldn't regret anything, but while he was at it, he might as well make use of it. There were, at times, distinct disadvantages to being who and what he was. Hearts had the audacity to be embarrassing.

"So… what am I, Jedah? Who am I? Am I some terrible creature created by Shabranigdo to exact some horrible retribution on the world?" A thought occurred to Zelgadis and he sat up straight, the shadow of the Mazoku casting a terrifyingly dark glint in his almost-sapphire eyes. "Jedah, are you telling me that I'm supposed to be Hellmaster?"

Silence stretched within the one-room cabin, a silence that weighed heavily on both the one who had asked and the one who had yet to answer.

"No, Zelgadis," Jedah finally replied with a soft sigh. "That's who I am."


	45. Chapter 45

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 45

Lina struggled to sit upright in the bed, forced dead limbs to move like leaden weights, but ultimately needed Naga's assistance. She was about to snarl something about her arm and leg being asleep when her gaze fell on the figure sitting in the chair at the foot of her bed. The oath that escaped the redhead made even Naga flinch. "What the hell happened to you?"

Xellos, or rather, half of Xellos huddled miserably in the chair, a blanket tossed over him to help hide his appearance. It was as if Garv had torn him in half all over again, though by the looks of it, he'd not even had the reserves of energy to escape to whatever place he called home. It was damned disconcerting, as if Xellos were sticking only part of himself through the chair… which was theoretically possible, but Lina could tell that he wasn't doing that. Instead of answering right away, he looked at her, his eyes drained of almost all color. That unnerved Lina into looking away.

"When the chambermaid found you on the floor, Amelia and I had no choice but to try to get Jedah's attention. Xellos answered the calls instead, as Jedah was 'busy' elsewhere." Naga said, shushing Xellos from trying to speak. She was becoming quite experienced at being nursemaid… and in a strange sort of way, it appealed. It was hard to screw up when you were simply pulling a blanket up over someone's lap.

"That doesn't explain this, Naga. Xellos is of the Astral Plane by nature. There shouldn't be that much capable of doing something like this to him." Lina retorted. "My arm and leg are asleep, not my brain." She waved a hand at the Mazoku. "The last time I saw anything like this was when Garv beat up on Xellos for a while before he got away. And even Garv left him with enough power to get away. Whatever attacked him this time around, obviously didn't!"

"There was a trap, Lina. A very nasty trap intended for someone else capable of searching for Zelgadis like you did. When you broke free of me, the trap sprung. Your arm and leg took the part of the aftermath that I couldn't block. You should recover soon," Xellos said weakly, curling a little tighter under the blanket. He reminded Naga of a sick cat. Wretched, and yet too dignified to give in to it.

Xellos had saved her life? Lina was more than a bit nonplussed. "You… grabbed me in the Astral Plane, trying to rescue me from a trap?" Her thoughts refused to wrap around it. Maybe her brain was asleep too.

Xellos managed a feeble smile. "That about sums it up." He barely had the energy to hold himself together, excess speech only made it worse. He just hoped that Lina would not ask who had set the trap. He knew who it had been set by, and he knew who it had been set for.

"The trap was set for Jedah," Lina said calmly, looking at Xellos as if she could read his thoughts, as if by some strangeness they were spilling out of his half-form and falling about, free for all to read. Maybe they were.

"Zelgadis must have known that Jedah would try to find him once he thought we were safe," Lina continued. It was amazing how much utter and cold despair allowed one to accept as fact. "I should have known there was a trap and I really should have known better than to walk stupidly into it." Once again, she'd been blinded by her concern for Zelgadis.

"Lina, hush. You too, Xellos." Naga said to the fragmenting Mazoku, though he hadn't spoken. "Both of you need to rest and recover." She pulled the blanket up a bit over Xellos and he regarded her with pale-tinted violet eyes.

"You need rest as well, Naga," he whispered, causing Lina to look to her once-companion in alarm.

"You haven't rested at all? Naga, don't make me fireball you just to make my point… I'll be fine, it's Xellos that needs to rest." It spoke volumes that Lina hadn't said 'fruitcake' or used some other colorful reference for the miserable Mazoku in the chair. "Now get out of here and stop distracting him," Lina said, looking pointedly at Naga.

For a moment, Naga resisted. She was needed here, to keep an eye on them, wasn't she? Then it occurred to her that she was very tired, and Amelia ought to be back soon, so she could stick her head in and check on these two later.

The door closed behind Naga and Lina fell backwards onto her pillow, as if she'd been forcing herself to stay upright until the other woman was gone. Heartbeats passed and Xellos became aware of a jumble of usable emotions tangible in the room. Pain, sadness, anger… they were all rolling away from the sorceress on the bed. And a sound, a soft sound like… like… like something that Xellos had never heard before. It was tiny, that little sound, softly repetitive and infinitely pained.

Lina Inverse Greywords was crying.

Instantly, Xellos became uneasy. He would have left if he could have, would have flung himself on the Sea of Chaos instead of bearing witness to the tears of a woman whose spirit was too proud to break. "Lina, I…" Xellos started, and then gathered himself. "Don't cry." Sure, it helped him recover, but she should be told that Zelgadis was safe. She ought to at least know that Jedah was working on things. "There's nothing to-"

"Xellos, shut up," Lina replied, tears thick in her voice. She wanted to be miserable, wanted to take the chance to wallow in her own feelings and gain her own comfort from it. She hadn't wanted him there, but it couldn't be helped by either one of them, so she just gave into it.

Once again deciding that humans were incomprehensible creatures, Xellos shut up and let Lina cry. As awkward as it might be, and as potentially embarrassing for them both it was…it helped them both.


	46. Chapter 46

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 46

When they had found themselves in Saillune, Sylphiel and Gourry had set off to one of the nearby temples, as Sylphiel wanted to collect a few items that might help protect them all from further encounters with Zelgadis.

As such, they had no idea what was transpiring in the Palace. Indeed, they'd reached the temple at close to the same time that Lina had gone Astral.

They'd spent time visiting, Sylphiel caught up with the head Cleric, Claribold and they discussed the potential for an Avatar of Shabranigdo. Claribold was clearly unnerved by the thought, and pointed out that there hadn't been any portents of blatant power.

However, when Sylphiel had mentioned the name 'Ambervale' Claribold blanched, pale skin going paler before flushing scarlet. "That's a story written to scare people from the darker magics. To illustrate what happens on the path of the wicked."

"Like Shigai no Ishii?" She asked sweetly. She'd heard all about that adventure too. She knew, better than he what had been encountered down there, what had resulted from the casual treasure hunting expedition. Amelia had told her everything, right down to the use of the Medigo Flare and how it hadn't harmed Zelgadis.

Claribold cringed. Those were supposed to be unknowns, places that existed only in the stories told by those who needed to impress youths who had too much of a wild streak in them, youths who were at risk of being contacted by a Mazoku for Pact. He sighed in reluctant acknowledgement, bowing his head. "If you know those places, then there is no reason to dissemble."

Sylphiel smiled her sweetest 'I told you so' smile and nodded. "The time may be upon us. I don't yet know what the paths will bring, but there is a storm on the horizon. The Artifacts must be put into place in the event that the upcoming storm is the one that we fear. Shabranigdo must not be allowed to walk the world again. The Avatar must be stopped."

Claribold was saved from having to reply by a loud sound of voices, a female speaking quickly to a male who really only had the space to give non-committal grunts, accompanied by rapid footfalls that spoke of running. The door burst open and Amelia wil Tesla Saillune entered with Gourry in tow.

"Miss Amelia!" Sylphiel said, standing up with an alarmed expression. "What's happened? You should be at the Palace!" For Amelia to be at the temple in search of Sylphiel, something must have gone terribly wrong.

"Sylphiel, we need you at the Palace. Lina and Xellos have been attacked… Xellos looks like he's half-dead, and Lina won't wake up…" Amelia began, out of breath, tears in her brilliant blue eyes. "We can't find Jedah, and I doubt you can do much for Xellos, but you have to help Lina. You have to come back now. I've horses ready at the door and there's no time to lose!" On horseback, it would only be an hour or so at full gallop. Maybe less if they ran the horses full out.

Sylphiel wasted little time moving towards the door. "Yes, at once, Amelia." She turned to look to Claribold. "Please consider my request and relay your reply to me at the Palace. Anything that can harm a mortal and a Mazoku at once…" She just hoped that it hadn't been Zelgadis. If he was the Avatar, and if he'd attacked Lina… Sylphiel could see no other alternative. The storm would come and she'd find herself on the opposite side of Zelgadis, Jedah and Xellos. With a fervent prayer that what she feared would not come to pass, Sylphiel followed Amelia and Gourry out of the antechamber, leaving Claribold behind to contemplate what Sylphiel had revealed.

The three ran through the temple, something Sylphiel should have been horrified about, but when necessity dictated, she ran. "What can you tell me, Amelia?" She'd put the travel to good use; ask the questions that she thought would help her decided the best course of action when she got there. Her mental list of spells was already forming, and she hoped it would be enough.

They swung around to the front, bursting out into the courtyard where the horses awaited. "I'm not sure, but when we first found her, Lina was Astral. When Naga and I tried to summon Jedah for help, Xellos appeared instead. We thought we'd have trouble with him when he took one look at Lina and vanished." The horses stamped as the three settled themselves in the saddles. The sense of urgency was thick and the horses were eager to move.

As Amelia led the way, Sylphiel guided her horse to stay beside the Princess. "What happened then, Amelia? Was that when you came to get me?" She needed more information. She herself couldn't travel in the Astral Plane, to her it was some mythological place filled with dangers and wonders.

"No," Amelia replied, watching Gourry's horse take the initiative and the lead. It didn't matter who led; they all knew where Saillune was. "I could feel something was going on, could sense some fight on the Astral Plane and then Lina cried out, fighting Naga like a cat. Only when Xellos reappeared did she calm down. But Xellos…" It still made Amelia cold to recall. "He'd been torn apart, Sylphiel. Whatever enemy they ran into left Lina unconscious and Xellos in pieces… and I'm afraid it might have been the woman who took Zelgadis."

Sylphiel fretted as they continued towards Saillune. What could she do to help Xellos? She was a Cleric of Cepheid, anathema to Mazoku. Her power, her strength came from the diametrically opposing force. What could she possibly do to attempt to rebuild him? She watched Amelia's back as scenery flashed past, recalling the bizarre kiss between Princess and Mazoku in the caverns. Would Amelia do something like that again, just to save Xellos? Could she do it again without her own soul becoming corrupted? And what about Zelgadis? Where was he? And Jedah? What about him?

Too many questions and not enough answers.


	47. Chapter 47

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 47

Jedah wasn't sure where the conversation was going to go, but it felt as if it was going quite wrong. He stood there, watching Zelgadis, keenly aware of the danger that had crystallized in the air. He, Jedah, was Hellmaster, not Zelgadis as Cassandra had thought. Jedah could choose to be Avatar too, if he wanted, but it just didn't suit him. Hey, no-one had told Jedah that only L-Sama was allowed to be capricious. He might change his mind tomorrow, but today he was content to simply be Hellmaster. Well… maybe not content. Not with the way Zelgadis was regarding him.

Those cerulean blue eyes hardened, the shadow of the Mazoku darkening within Zelgadis. Jedah could taste the power; feel the unspoken promise heavy in the air. "I am leaving, Jedah." Zelgadis rose to his feet, the shadow collected about him as if it were a cloak. "I am going to walk out of that door, and you aren't going to stop me. Hellmaster you may be, but you've told me that you can't stop me if I'm 'hell-bent' on doing it." The ghost of a dry smile touched his lips. "I think we'd both rather not put that to a true test."

Jedah stood there, watching Zelgadis walk to the door, painfully aware that he'd managed to completely screw this up. He hadn't wanted to be Zelgadis' enemy. He hadn't wanted anything more than what Zelgadis had thought they'd had: kinship. When the door opened and Zelgadis was halfway through, Jedah managed to open his mouth. "I'm sorry, Zelgadis."

The door closed behind the man who had been called brother with a click that only served to accentuate the mind-deafening silence that had fallen. Moments passed, and Jedah realized that his link with Zelgadis, his ability to Know where he was had been broken. Somehow the loss of that simple link hurt far more than the silence. Once more condemning his heart, Jedah sighed and willed himself towards the one that he could still vaguely sense: Xellos. He might as well go see what the troublemaker was up to…

That link was weak, and weakening more by the moment as Jedah oriented on him and appeared in a quiet and still room in the Palace of Saillune. Well, if Xellos was in the Palace, then that had to mean the rest of them were still in and around Saillune, right? He looked around the room, and spotted Lina on the bed, unnaturally still. He frowned, casting his mind open and seeing the problems in his own fashion. Thirty seconds later, Jedah knew what had happened to them, and how dangerously close he was to losing them both. He had to be dispassionate. He couldn't allow himself to feel.

The trap-spell that had been set was a cunning one, designed to eat away at the unfortunate who had been caught in its web of silent destruction. Jedah turned to see Xellos in the chair, and if he'd been mortal, his heart would have been in his teeth. Half of Xellos was missing, and Jedah moved to Xellos' side. The Trickster Priest had obviously taken the brunt of the magical impact, and it had quite literally torn him apart. Jedah couldn't recall the last time that he had caught Xellos sleeping.

With a wince, Jedah walked over to Lina, and saw with dismay that the spell had scored enough of a hit to begin its insidious work on her as well. She was mortal, and the spell was working faster on her, as she had far smaller reserves of energy to fight it off with… even if she had known what sort of a spell it was. Like as not, Lina had probably thought that she was just tired, and lain back to take a nap. While she slept, the spell would work freely, limbs turning to lead as the spell crept through her fragile physical shell. She'd be dead before morning, for all appearances, passed in her sleep.

Jedah didn't have much time. He didn't have a choice, either, for he knew that he couldn't let Lina die. Not at the hands of a spell that had most likely been cast to trap him. Not with the magic colored by his touch. He could partially restore Xellos if the Trickster Priest faded away, not that he'd be the same, but Jedah couldn't bring the mortal dead back to life. He couldn't allow himself to feel, or the choice would be harder. He could react later. For now…

He returned to the bedside, looking down at the woman who had managed to captivate more than one heart that should have been impenetrable. Who could say they understood hearts? Certainly not Jedah, he could barely understand his own. As he considered this, he put a hand on her shoulder and brought his magic to call. He had deep reserves, a well of power that normally slept hidden away, but now he had need of it. He reached into that source, freeing the power within himself.

The illusions shattered in that still room, the figure by the bed with his hand on the redhead's shoulder suddenly and irrefutably Hellmaster himself. Gone was the innocent boy, gone was the awkward Mazoku. He was the epitome of what every woman dreamed of having for a Mazoku lover, long black hair and perfect features. Eyes as deep as the brilliant winter sky opened, a voice as soft as night whispering the woman's name. "Lina… don't give up. Give me time to work this out." He could feel her faltering under his touch as he worked to undo the spell, worked to break its hold on her without injuring her.

He was losing. The spell wasn't woven to be broken by his touch, not without doing irrefutable harm to one who was not immortal. And to call the one who had cast it… but he had to. Jedah knew that somewhere deep inside, Zelgadis knew what spell he'd cast. And he was the only one who could undo it.

_Zelgadis, I need you here. Lina and Xellos are dying and I can't save them both._


	48. Chapter 48

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 48

The door closed behind him and Zelgadis found himself standing in the middle of a perfectly normal street. People walked past, smiling a good afternoon to him, blissfully unaware of the frantic and furious emotions warring in the man who had left the innocuous cabin. Reality buffeted at him, in direct contrast to the obscenely surrealistic events that had just transpired, and he stepped backwards, bumping into the door with a thud. Nearly in a panic, Zelgadis grabbed the handle, yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him, once more back inside the cabin.

Jedah was gone.

That didn't truly surprise Zelgadis. In fact, he had a hollow sort of feeling that nothing would ever surprise him again. He still didn't know what he was, but now knew what he wasn't. He wasn't Hellmaster, no, that was Jedah.

A flash of memory: a younger Jedah sitting outside a cabin with him, laughing at him while he fought with a tangled fishing line. Jedah snorting milk through his nose one of the rare few times Zelgadis had managed to sneak up on him. A food fight that had landed the both of them in the lake, each trying to mock-drown the other until an exhausted truce had them both panting on the grass.

Lies, all of them.

Power built, and Zelgadis cast himself out into the world, traveling to the place where it had all begun: the ruins of Ambervale.

He appeared in the deserted street, dust flaring out and away from him as his boots touched ground. It was with new eyes that he saw with, a new understanding. Ambervale had been a half day's walk from Rezo's tower. The town where he had bought the daggers, the poisons… it had been Ambervale.

The cave where he had hidden himself away… that was to the south, on the other side of the town, putting Ambervale directly between himself and the tower of the Red Priest. He knew where he was now, knew it as keenly as if it had been yesterday when he'd stood and bought the poison.

Or was it? Was that a lie as well? Had he tried to kill himself? Or was that all a part of the concocted memories? The only way to know was to go to the cave, to look for himself and see if what he thought was left behind was still there.

He walked there, preferring the physical motion, the solid sense of reality that it provided. When he got to it, there were signs of a cave-in, but that mattered little to him. He simply stepped through the rock as if it wasn't there.

The air within was stale, dry and devoid of anything that hinted at movement. It was old air, smelling of forgotten time and lost memories. But it was there, yes. The collection of knives he had purchased, shattered blades in a dusty pile near the discarded and broken knives. He'd been here, had tried to cut his stone skin with them. He recalled how useless they'd been, and impulsively, grabbed a half-broken dagger up from the floor of the cave and jabbed it into his lower left arm.

Pain exploded, white-hot and real, undeniable and breathtaking. He hadn't expected it, and he felt the blood welling, felt the dagger in the muscle. He fell to his knees, gasping, queasy with pain, yanking the filthy ruined blade from his arm. Nausea ripped through him and he retched, the acrid scent of his blood sharp in the dead air. He was immortal. (Damn that hurt!) He was Mazoku. (Tell that to his arm!)

He retched again, sick at the thought of what he had done, sick at the scent and the pain and the strange feeling of bugs on his skin. They were crawling all over his left arm, and he clasped his right hand over the injury, trying to protect himself from the bugs. He had to get out… he had to get out of the cave… he couldn't think to refocus his location, he couldn't call the magic… the bugs were crawling all over his arm…

He was standing by the lake, gasping in the sweet air, clutching his left arm with his right. Water… wash away the bugs, clean out the wound… he walked to the water's edge, kneeling and putting out his left arm, yanking up the sleeve.

There were no bugs.

There was no wound.

Frowning, Zelgadis yanked down his sleeve. His blood chilled as the inch-long slash showed pink skin underneath, the fabric cut by the dagger's fractured blade. He'd stabbed himself and he had healed. That hadn't been bugs; it had been the feeling of his own flesh knitting itself back together.

He retched again, falling to his knees as his stomach rebelled against what he was discovering. As much as it fascinated him, he couldn't stand the feelings associated, couldn't… he was making himself sick just thinking of it.

Calm… he had to calm himself. There was truth to his memories, a little here and there that hadn't been a lie. In a way, that comforted and yet concerned. He knelt there, looking out over the lake, gaze cast towards the ruins of Rezo's tower. The places of his youth, lost in ruin. His past was here, so much rubble and dust. The hollow, empty feeling crept back into him, and he looked at the rippling water, wondering if there was some deeper meaning from this.

Couldn't he simply choose to be whatever he wanted? He didn't have to be Man or Mazoku. He could be both, and yet neither. He didn't have to visit ruin on the world, didn't have to live an ordinary life. He could find a middle ground and just simply be.

It wouldn't be easy, but with Lina by his side, anything was possible.

Lina.

His shining light.

The thought of her gave him strength and he rose to his feet, preparing to find her and tell her what he knew.

_Zelgadis, I need you here. Lina and Xellos are dying and I can't save them both._


	49. Chapter 49

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 49

_Zelgadis, I need you here. Lina and Xellos are dying and I can't save them both._

That was all that Jedah had dared spare, the only fragment of power that he allowed free from his focus on Lina, that single thought that flew through the world to the mind that it needed to find.

It was enough.

Zelgadis stepped into the room, appearing out of the air with only a soft pop of displaced air to betray his arrival. Silence settled, and the man who wore his shadow like a mantle walked to the bed. He reached out with his right hand, and took up Lina's left hand, the hand with the plain gold band on the third finger. He said nothing to Jedah, did not even acknowledge the other's presence, instead looking quietly to Lina's ring, then looking past it and blanching.

He knew this spell. He recognized the magical touch as his own, though he could not recall casting it. His magic filtered through the sorceress on the bed, seeking the identifiers of the spell, and what he discovered made his blood run cold. It was his own power that echoed back, sparking a reaction within him.

Memory flashed, a dark anger pulsing through him, pain, anger, hatred. Broken, torn, pain had ripped through him, leaving him breathless and alone. In that aloneness, he'd realized that he was not just Mazoku, he was Shabrnigdo's Avatar! He was Power, he was the Successor, not Jedah! He'd wanted to trap Jedah, to neutralize him. Set a trap.

He'd set the trap.

He remembered, his stomach falling to his feet. He'd crossed the line, broken that boundary that Jedah had referred to before. He'd made the change from one to the other and become drunk with power. He grew cold, an empty feeling creeping through him as memory flashed again. He'd become what he'd sworn not to… lost control and become worse than Xellos. He'd created a trap with a spell specifically designed to tear the Astral form from its victim and destroy it bit by painful bit until there was nothing left but the core of the spirit. That hollow pit opened wider as he realized that Lina had been the one caught by his trap.

Lina. He'd hurt Lina, was hurting her. He'd forgotten that she could find him in much the same way that Jedah could and he'd hurt her. He had to save her. There were no options. He had to save her, and nothing in the world could stop him. No Hellmaster, no Avatar. He would do whatever it took to bring her back from the edge where his magic had sent her. Nothing was beyond him if he was hell-bent on doing it. And he was hell-bent on bringing Lina back.

Still Zelgadis said nothing, but Jedah could feel the buildup of power, could see the dark glitter of Zelgadis' magic washing out from him, cascading down over Lina and beginning to undo the spell. Ignoring Jedah, Zelgadis lifted his other hand, his left with its own golden band glittering, bringing it to rest on Lina's shoulder. He would save her. He had to.

The glitter grew, shifting from one of Zelgadis' hands to the other. It had a full circle now, and Jedah saw the power fed into it, knew that it would succeed. He pulled his own magic back before Zelgadis' could reach him, moving away from the bed and walking to the chair where Xellos was slumped. There wasn't much time left; the Trickster Priest was fading, the magic holding his corporeal appearance down to its last feeble attempt at effort.

Jedah lowered his hand, touching Xellos' hair, a glittering fire alighting between Mazoku as he used powers that he couldn't have used with Lina. A brilliant violet glow awoke at Jedah's magic, beginning to burn away the spell while feeding the injured Mazoku the power that he needed to recover himself. The old link between himself and the Trickster Priest reopened, and Jedah could reach into Xellos as easily as he might have reached into himself.

Jedah could feel the wounded Mazoku under his grasp, could taste Xellos' pain. It wasn't the kind of pain that was of any use, wasn't the pain that could be turned into power. It was a pain designed to burn away a Mazoku's mind, to reduce them to using their own form to maintain themselves. It was far nastier than the Raugnut Rusyavuna… for while that caused a mortal physical eternal pain and eternal painful destruction; this sought the very core soul of a Mazoku and twisted it against itself for all of eternity.

Xellos groaned softly, that soft and universal sound of pain, and Jedah's fingers entwined a bit tighter into the purple hair as he willed the power stronger. It flooded through Xellos, burning brilliantly like a beckoning candle in a darkened window. Master, servant, lover, the bond between them was beyond mortal comprehension.

_Xellos, I need you. Don't leave me._

The thought flickered from Jedah to Xellos, and Jedah felt the unfocused response. Xellos had no intentions of leaving, had no desire to give up. He was fighting as hard as he could to regain precious Astral footing and recover. Jedah couldn't lose Xellos. Not when he was right here… not after losing Zelgadis. The pain would be more than he could bear. Damn his heart, damn his father for his mortal soul and damn his mother on the general principle of the thing.

It would work out.

It had to.

The door to the room burst open and Sylphiel came running in, only to come to a dead stop as she registered what she was seeing. Gourry, only steps behind her, drew his sword, bladeless. As the Sword of Light burst into life, Gourry planted himself in front of Sylphiel. He might have been too late for Lina, but he'd be damned if he'd let them hurt his wife too. "Zelgadis, let Lina go. Jedah, take your toys and leave."


	50. Chapter 50

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 50

Zelgadis ignored Gourry. Oh, he could have answered the challenge, could have stepped back from Lina and let his magic continue working without him, but if anything stopped his magic, he knew that he'd lose Lina, and he just couldn't risk it. It was Jedah who had called him here, so let it be Jedah who explained it to the blonde swordsman. Zelgadis had a life in his hands, her life. He couldn't fail her now. Not after failing her the way that he had.

Jedah could feel the intense blue gaze, could feel the pulsating righteous fury of the Sword of Light. He had no illusions about what that particular weapon could do to himself, Xellos or Zelgadis, if Gourry took half the mind to do something recklessly stupid. It wouldn't be remotely comfortable, but compared to the spell that Xellos was suffering through at the moment, it might be a bit more comforting. There would, at the very least, be an end to the Sword of Light's affect, be it death or something else.

"Gourry, stop." It wasn't Jedah or Zelgadis who spoke, but Xellos. "He's… saving her life." One hand lifted, pale and shaking fingers touching Jedah's hand in his hair. The slight motion of affection made Gourry blink and falter. With the rush of adrenaline gone, he took a moment to take stock of the situation.

Xellos was collapsed in a chair at the foot of Lina's bed, half of him missing, possibly blown away by some unknown spell. He was pale, most of the color still gone from his eyes. Gourry wondered what could have done so much damage to the Trickster Priest, but didn't lower the Sword, largely because of Jedah.

Jedah. Mazoku Jedah. He stood by the chair, tall and adult. Long black hair was loose, some longer bangs playing in his face while the rest of his hair flowed smoothly down his back. Those crystal blue eyes watched Gourry carefully as his fingers remained entwined in Xellos' hair. Part of the blonde swordsman recognized the protective nature of Jedah's leaning over Xellos, but the other part of him firmly reminded himself that Jedah and Xellos were both Mazoku, and therefore couldn't love, no matter what appearances showed. Everything with them, after all, was a game.

"Why should I believe you, Xellos?" Gourry growled, shifting his grip on the sword-hilt. "You're a Mazoku." Some things just weren't worth trying to explain to the swordsman. Nine times out of ten, the facts only confused him further.

Sylphiel stood behind Gourry, blue eyes wide. She didn't understand any of this. Jedah looked older than Zelgadis... who looked perfectly normal, if not a bit seriously focused on Lina. She should go help him with Lina… she took a step around her husband, and he moved to block her movement. "Stay there, Sylphiel."

"But Gourry dear, Lina needs help. Mister Zelgadis can't do everything on his own." Not without being what they'd seen earlier. Sylphiel still didn't truly understand what was going on, but she knew the way Zelgadis normally looked to Lina, knew the softness in his eyes. She saw that now, coupled with sheer desperation in his eyes as he looked up and met her gaze for a moment before he looked back to Lina.

"I caused this, I'll fix it," Zelgadis spoke quietly through gritted teeth. If Gourry was so bent on damning him, then he may as well damn him for the whole of it. "I set a trap for Jedah and Lina got caught in it. By the looks of it, Xellos was caught up as well." He hadn't looked up to Gourry yet, hadn't allowed the swordsman to see the emotion tearing him apart, the guilt, the grief, the desperate hope that he could undo what he'd done to the woman who was his wife.

If the blonde swordsman had needed a reason to move, that was it. Without Lina to temper the moment, his own temper was high and hot. Two strides brought him to Zelgadis, the Sword of Light menacing in his hand. "You. I saw you in the caves, I know you're a Mazoku, just like them. And you say that you caused this…" the Sword moved closer to Zelgadis, Gourry's anger feeding the brilliant flame. He'd promised Lina that he'd protect her. He still meant it, even if it meant protecting Lina from the monster that she'd married.

Jedah couldn't catch his breath. Something was building in the room, something bigger and deeper and scarier than he wanted it to be. He moved his hand, reaching down to try to grip Xellos by his remaining shoulder, with every intention of getting them both out of the room. If Gourry was going to let loose the full wrath of Golunova, there was no sense in the two mostly innocent Mazoku getting hurt in the aftermath. Lina wouldn't be harmed by the release of the magic, in fact, it would probably do her a few worlds of good. He'd come back and check in after the disaster passed.

Before Jedah or Gourry could get much farther, however, Zelgadis moved. Sylphiel screamed as his hand shot up from Lina's shoulder, grabbed Gourry's sword-hand and held him fast. Gourry's eyes widened as he realized he was trapped, and that Zelgadis was far, far stronger than anyone might have thought.

With a grim smile, Zelgadis released Lina's hand, and Sylphiel saw the pale fingers fall limp to the bed. She cried out Lina's name, trying to push past Gourry to reach the sorceress, but at that moment, Zelgadis grabbed the Sword of Light, using Sylphiel's distraction of the swordsman to pull the Sword away from Gourry with both hands.

There was a moment, as if everything had paused and then there was a sudden percussion of power as Zelgadis took Golunova away from Gourry. It washed over the room, powerful and undeniable. It knocked Jedah backwards and away from Xellos, pushing him onto the floor, extinguishing the Sword's brilliant white blade and plunging the room into a magical darkness.


	51. Chapter 51

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 51

As the magic faded and light returned to the room, it took a moment for Sylphiel to register what she was seeing. She saw Zelgadis standing there as he had before in the caves, long hair down past his shoulders, eyes as hard and angry as fire-lit blue diamonds glinting down at Gourry. She watched as he put the hilt of the now-extinguished Sword of Light down on the bed next to Lina with one hand, while his other held Gourry firmly by the wrist.

And still she watched, transfixed, looking on as Zelgadis glared for a moment before he spoke quietly to the startled swordsman, his voice like heavy silk. "Yes, Gourry, you're right. I am a Mazoku. But I'm considerably more powerful, and it wouldn't be wise to forget that." He shoved the swordsman backwards, releasing his hold and turning back to Lina.

He'd had to pull his magic back when he shifted. He hadn't even thought about it, it had simply happened. He'd been threatened, and if he'd been hurt, Lina would… but shifting had used his magic, done almost the same thing as if he'd been injured. She was dying, the trap-spell having regained its foothold within her.

As he bent and gathered Lina into his arms, Zelgadis shot a dark glare at Gourry, who had fallen to a seated position on the floor. Sylphiel moved to help Gourry up, and before any words could be said, Zelgadis and Lina were gone, the room still, the air strangely heavy with the aftereffect of magic spent.

Jedah picked himself up off of the floor and staggered back to the chair, amazed at the power released by Zelgadis. It had blasted away from him, tearing through the room with all the subtlety of a hurricane. He felt… younger, refreshed, as if the power that Zelgadis had released had somehow restored him, fed him even. Restored him? What about…

Xellos stood up from the chair, fully restored to himself, half turning to open his deep violet eyes and look to Jedah with his trademark half-smirk. His hair played about his shoulders, and Jedah realized that he'd taken on his alternate appearance as well, looking every inch the General-Priest of Beastmaster Xelas Metallium. "It's a pity that Zelgadis doesn't believe you, Jedah. The blood runs strong in him." The emotional blast of power had done more than simply repair him, but that was something to be dealt with later.

Jedah ignored the bait in Xellos' words, alternating between relief that the Trickster Priest was well enough to be back to himself, and furious with Gourry for his actions. He chose the latter and settled his iced blue gaze on the swordsman. "What in my Mother's Name was that, Gourry? If that was your shining moment in the pissing contest, you just failed utterly and miserably." He was too angry to be polite about it. By the looks of it, he shouldn't have worried. Sylphiel wasn't too scandalized. The little Cleric may have looked sweet and innocent, but she was pretty tough when it came down to the nitty-gritty things.

Gourry's own anger sparked back at Jedah's admonishing query and his back stiffened, shoulders straightening as he yanked his arm out of his wife's grasp. He could feel the angry rush of adrenaline that replaced the stunned uncertainty that had hit when Zelgadis had pushed him down. "It's about time that some of us started standing up to you," Gourry began, clearly not illustrating any shred of intelligence. His sword was on the bed. If he could distract them enough to allow him to get it… he might have said more, but for the shadow falling across the open bedroom door.

Neither Jedah or Gourry were prepared for the icy cold words that issued from the woman who stalked into the room, bright blue eyes blazing. "What. Happened." Amelia wil Tesla Saillune was a woman of formidable fury when pushed, and these were extremes that even she hadn't seen before. Her sister decided to just stand at the door and watch the show. Amelia was in her element here, her strength of intimidation proving itself on Mortal and Mazoku alike.

Jedah looked over to Amelia, his eyes bright with a strange sort of admiration. _Will you look at that, Xellos? Isn't she amazing? The sheer power of presence that she commands… we could take lessons from her._

Xellos turned his head, looking at Jedah with a bland sort of incredulousness. He didn't answer, as he wasn't certain that he could do so safely. Instead, he looked back to Gourry, who was attempting to regain some of his mental footing before attempting to answer.

Jedah knew that Gourry didn't deserve any help. The blonde swordsman had made his proverbial bed, so it was only fair to allow the mortal to sleep in it. So why was he stepping around Xellos and opening his mouth? "Ah, Amelia, sorry I'm late. I had to drag Zelgadis back to his senses, which as you can imagine, wasn't easy."

Gourry and Xellos stared as Amelia turned to look at Jedah. "And did it actually succeed?" Her gaze shifted to the bed, where Lina had been lying. "Where is Lina? She wasn't awake when I left for the temple."

"She wasn't in any condition to get up and walk off when I left her, either," commented Naga from the doorway. "In fact, I'm not so sure she could have rolled over, let alone gotten up. Sylphiel?" Naga looked to the Cleric for an answer. _Tell me you healed her. Please, just tell me you healed her and she's gone to the bathroom, or something equally and stupidly normal._

Sylphiel wasn't telepathic in the least, wasn't even capable of those sort of spells, but she could read the desperation in Naga's eyes. "Zelgadis came… he took Lina away. I… I'm not sure she…" Sylphiel lifted her hand to her mouth and looked away as she couldn't bring herself to say any more. She wasn't sure that Lina had lived.

Neither, for that matter, was Jedah.


	52. Chapter 52

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 52

Silence gathered in the room, a cloying and angry blanket that threatened to smother Mortal and Mazoku alike. It was a Bad Situation, and Jedah knew that it was up to him to smooth things over without doing further damage. Of course, the best way that he knew to do that was to do the completely and totally unexpected. So he did just that.

He turned for a moment, touching Xellos on the shoulder, looking to the Mazoku with clear blue eyes. _Xellos, you know what to do if this goes wrong._ Jedah's smile was bitter, and it chilled Xellos. If Jedah was planning to do what he thought Jedah was going to do… Xellos watched as Jedah turned back to Gourry, walking over to the blonde swordsman and then falling to one knee before him, resting his arm across his bent leg, the top of his right fist flat against the floor.

Head bowed, eyes down, Jedah spoke. "Gourry Gabriev, I offer you this chance, this choice. You doubt my intentions, you doubt my sincerity. Because I am Mazoku, I am branded to be a charlatan. Therefore, I kneel before you to prove my words: I wish you and yours no injury, no misuse. I do not play these games as other Mazoku do; I have no need of such… diversions."

If the silence had been thick before, it was even moreso now. Sylphiel watched in astonishment, almost flabbergasted at Jedah. Did she believe what she heard? It was hard not to. The young man – Mazoku kneeling before her husband could have been swearing fealty to Gourry by all appearances.

Jedah continued, aware of Sylphiel's amazement, aware of Amelia's shock and Naga's curiosity, keenly aware of Gourry's hatred… and vainly attempting to block the link he shared with Xellos, who was bordering on insane panic. "I am Jedah Greywords, son of Terim Greywords, half-brother to Rezo Greywords." He felt the various indrawn breaths. He hadn't even told Xellos that part, and the Trickster had never asked.

"Yes, _that_ Rezo. The Red Priest. Our father crossed the Boundary between Mortal and Mazoku, forever cursing our bloodline," Jedah sighed, as if he'd known that one of them would ask, regardless of who it was. It didn't matter at this point who asked the question, they'd all have heard the answer so it was just easier to give up the information willingly. It may or may not have helped his 'cause' with Gourry… but he knew that the blonde swordsman would do as he would do, regardless of the facts presented. If the Sword was involved, there wasn't much room for thinking.

Naga froze when she heard those words. Jedah had told her that he was the son of Greater Beast… and if he was half brother to Rezo the Red Priest… that meant that the youth, no, _man_ kneeling at Gourry's feet was… oh, dear Cepheid. He couldn't possibly… she took two steps forwards, but Amelia put her hand out to stop her sister. "Let him continue, Naga. Let us hear the truth at last."

Jedah winced at the chill in her voice, but he continued to talk. "I've done everything I can to keep you safe, I promised Zelgadis, I promised Lina… whatever I could do to protect you, I would. I have not raised hand nor magic against any one of you, I have not even so much as raised my voice." He didn't move, simply continued staring hard at the wooden floor, tracing the patterns in the wooden slats with his gaze.

"So, with that, Gourry, I give you this knowledge: Xellos is bound by my word. He can no longer touch any of you. My life… my existence is yours to do with as you please, without fear of retribution. General-Priest of Juuou, Xellos Metallium, you have your orders."

He felt Xellos cringe, and he knew that there was no way that he could offer any words to the Mazoku that had been his Companion. They wouldn't be enough, even if he did. He reached out, felt the twist of emotions flood the General-Priest and with one final gentle touch to the one he had spent so long together with, he severed the link. The pain was breathtaking, brilliant and sharp for a moment, as if he'd stabbed himself in the heart with a needle. He heard Xellos' soft gasp of pain, but he didn't look up, he couldn't look up. If he looked up, it would be the end of it all. He wouldn't be able to stay put.

Xellos staggered in his place, his eyes opening wide, the pain shooting through him without warning. He had expected Jedah to do something, had given a passing thought to the idea that Jedah might have moved to break the link between them. It had hurt a good deal more than he had expected it to. Sylphiel and Naga both looked to him, but Amelia just watched Jedah. He was a Mazoku. And he was offering his life to Gourry. She didn't understand.

Silence fell again, and Jedah closed his eyes. He'd finally spoken the vast majority of the truth. Oh, he'd left out that one last detail, but it was trivial at this point. This close against the Sword of Light, not many had a hope of surviving, not even Hellmaster. He sensed Gourry moving, felt the magic of the Sword of Light burst into life, the brilliance of holy fire that was Golunova. So it was to be that, then.

So let it be.

The sense of the Sword rose, as if Gourry had lifted it in his hands. The sheer purity of the blade burned even from that distance, but he didn't cry out, instead welcoming the pain. He couldn't use it to feed, but he didn't have to try to fight it, either. It was somehow easier to bear that way.

And then he felt it.

The Sword of Light was coming down.


	53. Chapter 53

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 53

"Sylphiel."

The voice was a whisper in her dreams, a sound that barely made itself known.

"Sylphiel."

It was out of her dreams, a sound born of flesh and blood, a whisper in her ear as she lay asleep.

"Sylphiel."

The Cleric opened her eyes, blue gaze settling on the man cloaked in black that knelt beside the bed. As he came into focus, Sylphiel's eyes widened. It was Zelgadis looking quietly back to her, those deep blue topaz eyes of his so searching, so desperate. She knew right away that something was horribly wrong.

Sylphiel sat up slowly, the blonde swordsman next to her still snoring in his sleep. "What is it, Zelgadis?" Her own voice was barely a whisper, a scant touch above the sound of her breath. She didn't believe that Zelgadis was a bad as some (namely her husband) put him out to be, and she couldn't risk Gourry waking up and finding him in the shadows of the bedroom.

In silent answer, Zelgadis' left hand lifted, a small golden glitter resting in his palm, catching the faintest of light from the window. Lina's wedding ring. Sylphiel couldn't imagine Lina willingly taking it off, and when her gaze lifted to Zelgadis' she could see why he hadn't spoken beyond whispering her name to wake her. The pain and unshed tears in his eyes were enough to make her own heart ache in sympathy.

In that moment, she made her decision. She slipped out of bed, dressed only in her chemise, uncaring of the impropriety. She fell to her knees, looking at the man before her. He was powerful, yes. He was Mazoku, true. But he was still Zelgadis, and she'd known Zelgadis for many years. She had faith in his heart. He looked wearily back at her, and she offered him a gentle smile. "Take me to Lina. Let me help."

When her light fingers rested on his wrist, Zelgadis nodded once, closing his eyes and drawing his power around them both like a blanket. They faded from the room, and Gourry simply rolled over and kept snoring, none the wiser.

Reality shifted. It was as if she'd blinked away blurry vision and she could see clearly again. The figure beside her rose to his feet, shadows collapsing about him. Belatedly, Sylphiel realized that he'd been wearing a cloak, and he wasn't just a thing of shadows as he'd seemed in her room. He stopped and turned, offering her a hand so she could get to her feet.

She took the aid gratefully, and was surprised when he released her hand to reach up and transfer his cloak to her shoulders. "You'll get cold," he remarked, leading her through a darkened hallway and into a small room.

Lina was lying on a bed that looked as if it had been hastily fluffed into something vaguely worthy for her to lie upon. She was so pale, so still… the only other time Sylphiel had seen her like this was under Sairaag, when Copy Rezo had… the Cleric forced her thoughts away from that, moving to the bed and looking carefully at Lina. She took Lina's hand into her own, reaching out with her magic, turning her attentions to the rise and fall of Lina's chest, listening for breath. Her magic confirmed it; Lina was alive… but barely.

"I destroyed the spell that had trapped her. I did what I could… but I can't heal her. My magic has shifted… I can't save her, Sylphiel. She needs your help. I need your help. I'm Mazoku… the White magics are lost to me…" His voice was a fractured whisper. He was so powerful… and yet, he was completely helpless. He needed Sylphiel's magic, needed her to understand. He couldn't do it.

She nodded, placing Lina's hand gently on the bed and turning to look for a chair she could sit in while she worked. Three steps brought her to a suitable one, and she pushed it towards the bed. Zelgadis moved a finger, and the chair swept itself out of her hands and came to a perfect stop where she'd wanted to put it.

"Sylphiel. Before you do this, promise me one thing." It wasn't a query, it was a command. Before she could ask, he continued, watching her settle into the chair as he spoke. "If something happens… if Lina," his voice broke and he swallowed, took a deep breath, and tried again. "If Lina dies, you have to destroy me."

It was a good thing that Sylphiel was sitting, for the world fell out from under the Cleric. "Zelgadis, I…" she began, all too painfully aware of what he was asking her. She knew this wasn't an easy or frivolous request.

"_Promise_, Sylphiel. I'm dangerous. Without Lina, I'm a monster. Promise me." He sounded so desperate, so utterly and irrevocably resolute. She'd seen him I the cave, she knew what he was capable of.

"I promise that I will defend myself, Zelgadis." It was as close as Sylphiel could come to telling him that she would do as he asked, and before he could press her further, she turned to Lina, drawing her hands together to cast the first healing spell.

Zelgadis backed up instinctively, watching as the spell began to grow. Hers was pure magic, the antithesis of his, and even a touch of it would hurt. But he'd deserve it for hurting Lina. He forced himself to step forwards again, telling himself that he had to stay close to Lina.

He only hoped that Sylphiel could work a miracle. If Lina died, he knew that he'd lose all self-control. She was what returned him to himself before; she was the uniting force before he understood what little he understood now, way back in the beginning of all of this. He couldn't understand how, but he loved her. Every aspect of himself loved her, though it defied all rationale.

She had to live.

For he couldn't without her.


	54. Chapter 54

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 54

It had been silent for hours, darkness filling the small cabin with an almost oppressing hand. He'd staggered into the cabin, closed the door behind him and leaned against the door for a long time, looking out across the room into nothingness. He'd stood there like that for what had seemed a small lifetime, stunned into the heavy silence that had smothered all thoughts.

Finally, Xellos walked across the room, a stilted step that brought him to the edge of the bed where he now perched, the very image of shell-shocked. In all of his existence, he hadn't seen anything quite as… he lacked the language to describe it, even to himself. Countless years, hundreds of languages at his disposal… and he couldn't express, couldn't define what he had seen, what he had felt.

He felt… alone.

For the first time in his life, be it as the mortal that he once was, and then the Mazoku he became, he felt disconnected, cut off from the World that he walked, disassociated from that which he was. He was still a Mazoku, still the General-Priest of Beastmaster Zelas Metallium. He was still the high-ranking purple pain in the posterior that he'd always been.

But he wasn't, was he?

How could he have staggered backwards into a shadow, how could he have found the wherewithal to leave as he'd been instructed by Jedah? Jedah. Hellmaster. Hellmaster Jedah Metallium Greywords. Creator, Companion. Lost to him now, link broken and Shabranigdo only knew what the Sword of Light had left behind. If anything.

What did he do now?

What in all the Hells he knew did he do now?

He sat in the darkness, gaze cast across the emptiness. He knew what he wanted. He wanted time off. The fragment of Mortal Soul within him wanted to rest, to grieve, to recover and take stock of what was left. What little there was. He needed to spend some time the way that he used to.

He stood, hands reaching up to unfasten the cloak clasp. He could have undressed with a simple thought, but right now, he was finding an odd measure of comfort in the physical motions. Pants, shirt, belt… it all fell unceremoniously to the floor as he walked across the cabin to the door that led to the bath.

He was tired. Oh, by Shabranigdo, he was so tired.

The water was warm when he slipped into it, settling onto the seat and closing his eyes as he had once upon a time when he was Mortal and careless. It had been the summer before he'd gone to the monastery. Two summers before he'd met… he forced his thoughts away from that day. Remembering Jedah right now was just a little too painful, even for a Mazoku.

He'd take the night off; pretend that he was nothing more than another traveler in the beautiful city of Saillune. He should clean up and make himself presentable, then go to a bar, have a drink and find someone to stay the night. Xellos couldn't bear the thought of being alone tonight. Not tonight.

He could almost feel the fingers touching his hair just below his ear, the soft way that he'd been approached with a whisper to his ear, a whisper that held promises of things beyond the mind's imagining. The fingers almost touched his neck, almost brushed at the base of his skull.

The hair on the back of his neck rose. There were fingers at the base of his skull, fingers that were real and warm and- violet eyes snapped open.

If he'd been Mortal, his heart would have stopped.

It tried anyway.

Jedah was right there, there in the water, breathing warm breath on his ear, his fingers curling into his hair. Jedah. Hellmaster, impish boy, very much alive, Jedah.

The violet gaze widened, Xellos almost unable to comprehend it. Jedah wasn't dead. Gourry hadn't destroyed him with the Sword of Light. "How…?" Xellos managed, unable to string much beyond that together.

"To tell the honest truth," Jedah sat back, his hair spilling into the water, swirling in the warmth and creating a soft cloud around his upper arms. "I don't know." He closed his eyes, momentarily reliving the event.

He'd knelt there, waiting, knowing that the Sword was falling, knowing the final blow was coming. He'd felt the blistering purity falling down like Holy Terror. He'd fought every instinct to flee, to leave and let them thing that he'd been destroyed. But if Jedah was one thing beyond being Mazoku, he was honorable. So he remained in place, feeling the Sword, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Which suddenly vanished as the Sword of Light was extinguished and lowered to the side, harmless.

Light blue eyes opened, looking to the violet ones. "He just lowered the Sword of Light and that was it. He turned, saying absolutely nothing, and he left me there." Jedah shook his head, setting his hair dancing in the water. "Sylphiel went with him, and Amelia left too. Only Naga stayed behind, and she put her hand on my shoulder and said she'd talk to Amelia." He sighed a heavy sigh that seemed to help release some of the nervous tension that he'd felt. Sometimes he longed to be a lower Mazoku, one that didn't have the complication of emotions; one totally dedicated to destruction, that mindless burning desire to bring the world to ruin that could never be sated.

"And they left me there, Xellos. No harsh words, no threats, no… requests for reasons or explanations."

Xellos could hear the bewilderment in Jedah's voice, could relate to the lack of understanding, for he himself didn't understand it either. But if he had ever wanted to see the blonde swordsman, he wanted to now. He wanted to thank Gourry for giving Jedah back, for not choosing to destroy the one thing in this pathetic world that he'd ever cared about. Not that it would have mattered to Gourry in the least.

And then, Jedah spoke words that chilled Xellos. "We have to go back and help save Lina."


	55. Chapter 55

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 55

The Cleric was all too aware of the man pacing in the shadows of the room. She felt his anxiety as he moved back and forth while she cast the healing spells over and over again. Lina was naturally resistant to outside magic, and Sylphiel kept having to boost her own spells to compensate. It was wearing her out and she still hadn't managed to get ahead of the damage done.

When Zelgadis turned to look over to the Cleric, he saw how very pale she was, how drawn and worn her appearance had become. She'd started to draw on her own life to continue healing Lina, and he couldn't risk losing Sylphiel as well as Lina. His hand reached out to catch hers as she leaned forwards to cast the spell again. "No. Not at your risk." His voice was surprisingly gentle.

"I have to. If I stop…" Sylphiel protested. She'd caught Lina in that brink, that far-away place that lay between life and death. Twilight, she'd heard it called. It was very much a twilight, a place where almost anything could happen. A soul could live or die from this place, but it couldn't stay there forever.

Zelgadis' other hand rested on Sylphiel's shoulder. "Not at that cost. Lina would never allow it." There was time to rest, to watch and see if what the Cleric had done was enough to give Lina a fighting chance. "Rest, Sylphiel." Before she could object, before she could move, his magic swelled, and she was kneeling by her own bed, her husband still snoring, none the wiser.

It took her thirty seconds to realize what he had done, and once she did, her scream of frustration was heard through the entire living wing of Saillune's Royal Palace. Gourry leapt out of the bed, all senses on alert, ready to fight off whatever had upset his wife. When Sylphiel angrily brushed off his touch and rose to stalk out of the room, he stood there clueless, and then decided to follow her.

Zelgadis turned away from the space that Sylphiel had occupied, turning to look to Lina, reaching out to brush a strand of her hair away from her face. "I'm so sorry, Lina. I… I never meant…" his voice faded and he took a deep breath, forcing himself still for a moment. What sort of Mazoku was he, anyway? Who did he call to for help? Shabranigdo? Cepheid? Did it matter at this point?

The slight sound of Lina's breathing faltered, and his attention snapped back to his wife. Sylphiel had been right. He was going to lose Lina, and in a way, he'd already known it. That cavernous pit in his soul opened again, the sensation not unlike someone reaching into him and putting a vise-like hand around his heart. He moved, gathering Lina into his arms, turning and vanishing from the room with her.

Gourry came to a halt in the foyer of the Palace, practically running over the guards who had run to the aid of the Cleric who had stormed out of the guest wing. She was a scarlet-faced thing of fire and fury, dressed in a white chemise and a strange black cloak that glittered with golden trim. Amelia and Naga stumbled in to catch Sylphiel's voice raised in anger.

"Jedah Greywords, where are you?" She might have stomped her foot, if she'd thought that it might do some good. "Xellos, if you're listening in the shadows, you'd better get your precious Lord and Master here, right now. Lina is dying, do you hear me? She's _dying_ and Zelgadis has taken her somewhere."

The words of the Cleric brought the three friends to a complete halt. Lina? Dying? The thought of the fiery sorceress dying was a completely alien one, not one that had remotely occurred to any of her friends. Lina was invincible, wasn't she?

"You don't have to shout, Sylphiel. I'm right here, and I can hear you quite clearly," Jedah replied with a bit of a smirk in his voice. He'd appeared in the middle of her little tirade, fully aware of the situation with Lina and Zelgadis. As the Cleric spun around to look to him, he offered a faint smile, accompanied by a glance behind her, towards the hallway entrance. "And we don't have to go find her; she's on her way."

As Sylphiel turned, a figure clad in shadows melted out of the darkness, seemingly oblivious to the servants and guards that Amelia was suddenly chasing out of the other entrance. The last thing they needed was more chaos.

Zelgadis walked slowly, as if he were a one-man funeral procession, the redheaded woman cradled in his arms. His touch seemed almost reverent, as if he were afraid that he might break her by just carrying her into the room. His gaze was bleak, almost blank, his sapphire eyes dull and lifeless. When he reached Sylphiel, he knelt, ever so carefully placing Lina on the floor, gently arranging her hands before rising and looking to Jedah without any trace of emotion. There was a beat, and then his hands parted, palms open and out, as if he was asking what he could possibly do at this point.

Jedah deliberately turned away from Zelgadis, forcing his gaze to the fragile redhead. Her breathing was so shallow, so labored, he wondered what that spell had done to her, and what might have happened if he'd answered the initial summons that he sent Xellos to instead.

_Xellos, go see to that. I'm busy._

He'd been so wrapped up in Zelgadis that he'd lost track of Lina. He wasn't doing such a good job of things, and it was little wonder he felt the burning of Zelgadis' eyes on his back. He couldn't turn back time and re-do things that didn't go precisely right, so the only thing that he could do was to continue forward on the path that he found himself taking.

He just had a bad feeling about this path.


	56. Chapter 56

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 56

_It's your fault._

The words snapped from Zelgadis to Jedah like a bolt of lightning, a single piercing thought that cut like a knife. He turned to look to the dark sapphire eyes, and regarded the man that he still wished he could call 'brother' with sadness. _Is it? Perhaps. I've been guilty of worse. So have you._

The trouble with confronting Zelgadis was that Zelgadis was completely unpredictable. He'd brought Lina back, sure, but he could easily turn on any one of them in less time than it would take to realize it. Jedah knew that he had to provoke Zelgadis enough to break the old habitual shell of solitude that the shaman often retreated into… but not tear it away so that Zelgadis felt that he had to go on the offensive to protect himself. It was a very delicate business.

So he let go, dropped the black-clad figure and turned back again to look across to the three girls trying to heal the sorceress. Brilliant blue eyes lifted for a moment, the blonde swordsman looking across to the Mazoku before his face tightened and he looked back to his wife. Jedah knew that Gourry might never forgive him for being more than just the bright-eyed and eager little brother of his friend, and to a point, Jedah wasn't certain that he shouldn't be angry with himself as well. After all, he'd failed Zelgadis in that, too.

He cast a glance back at Zelgadis. "They live such brilliant lives. It's no wonder why we fall in love with them so easily." Jedah was old enough to have been in love with a Mortal several times over. He'd only been so once, however, and he had made a choice that Zelgadis hadn't been able to.

Zelgadis said nothing, simply watching the group that was working so hard to save Lina's life. He'd cast that spell against Jedah and she'd walked into it. Jedah was the one who had been the reason for all of this. Why should he keep counsel with him? His power darkened another step, rippling underneath his calm exterior like the dangerous undertow of the ocean.

Jedah felt the darkening, and turned to look fully at the other and shook his head. "Zel, this isn't necessary. You aren't a mindless minion; you don't have to use your powers to make a point." He was afraid that he knew what he'd have to do, and he wasn't sure that it would work. He could show Zelgadis, truly show him what being a Greater Mazoku was. After all, Jedah had had the advantage of knowing who and what he was from the beginning. Zelgadis had thought he was cursed.

He walked around the small group, reaching out to catch Sylphiel as she faltered, holding her until Gourry could take the slight Cleric and support her weight. He'd known that she was going to fall, and it had only seemed natural that he move to catch her. He'd been playing the human for far too long, he thought.

Sylphiel was exhausted. She'd been trying to heal Lina for part of the night, and on into the morning hours now, and she just couldn't cast anything more, couldn't even think about it. She leaned against Gourry and watched Naga and Amelia as they continued to try to save Lina's life, but it seemed that no matter what they tried to cast, it wasn't strong enough to break past Lina's natural and instinctive barriers. She sank to the floor, pulling Gourry down with her.

Lina was fading away, and there didn't seem to be anything that they could do about it. Naga was preparing to cast another spell when Amelia's hand reached out, staying her sister.

Lina's breathing had stopped.

It happened so fast, none of them saw it. Jedah flashed over Sylphiel and Lina, shoving into Zelgadis, fire and fury in his crystal blue eyes. They shot backwards, Jedah pinning Zelgadis against the far wall, a brilliant anger tangible to all. "You idiot. You pea-brained, half-witted moron! Don't you get it yet? You're one of the most powerful beings in this World, and you refuse to see it, and now you've lost her!"

Amelia blinked. Naga's mouth fell open. They hadn't thought Jedah would react to Lina's death. Gourry knelt beside Sylphiel, disinterested in the Mazoku. He'd decided earlier that they just weren't worth his time unless they were threatening those he loved or the world at large. Political infighting between Mazoku wasn't ground he wanted to discover.

A white gloved finger reached out and tapped Naga's chin, prompting her to close her mouth. "This fight isn't for you," Xellos shook his head. "Take them and go." Violet eyes looked to Gourry. "There is more than simply one life at risk now. Get them out of here."

But Sylphiel wasn't leaving without Lina. Gourry moved to assist Sylphiel, picking up the pale and still figure, and though Naga wasn't the handiest with most magic, she'd do whatever she could to help get them all to safety, and then they could figure out what was to be done. What she opted to do, however, was take charge and lead them out of the room. Her sister was heading into shock, but she had to get them to safety. And even then, she wouldn't be able to react. Not yet. And maybe not later.

Xellos nodded to himself, turning to look towards Jedah and Zelgadis. This could be critical, but Xellos wasn't allowed to interfere. He couldn't. He wasn't in the same power base as those two. He wasn't entirely sure that Jedah could match Zelgadis for power, for the once-chimera had grown alarmingly powerful since he'd been taken by Cassandra and Kessary. He pondered. It was time for him to do some investigating. None of the room's occupants noticed the Trickster Priest vanish. They were too wrapped up in their own concerns.

As Gourry stepped out of the room, his charge in his arms, Sylphiel and Amelia followed in absolute silence. Naga, however, turned, casting a cold glare across the room. It took all of thirty seconds for her to decide her next action, and she closed the door behind Amelia, locking herself in with the Mazoku.


	57. Chapter 57

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 57

Her sister's voice had been right behind her. "Come on, keep moving." And so, Amelia had kept moving, following Sylphiel, following Gourry carrying Lina. Lina. Brilliantly burning redhead so very still in the arms of one who protected her once upon a time. If ever there was a definition of Horribly Wrong, this was It, in her opinion.

She didn't know how much worse it could- would get.

Amelia turned to ask Naga where they ought to go, and came to a halt when her sister wasn't there. "Naga?"  
Amelia's query caused Sylphiel to pause and turn around to see what was wrong. "Where's Naga?" The Cleric asked, dismayed to see that the other princess wasn't with them.

"I don't know! She was right behind me…" Amelia began, but her voice faded away into uncertainty. Naga had been there, right?

"Guys… it's Lina…" Gourry said in surprise, looking down at the pale Sorceress in his arms. "I think she's breathing!" He knelt down, settling Lina onto the carpet and supporting her head. "Hey, Lina!" His voice was so encouraging, as if he expected her to open her eyes and miraculously be fine.

She didn't answer, and Amelia and Slyphiel moved to Gourry's side to see if Lina was truly breathing, or if it had been hopeful thinking. If Lina was breathing, even a little… Sylphiel had, of course, magic for one more spell. She was exhausted, she was beyond where she could happily cast anything, but a good Cleric always held enough power back in reserve for the worst case scenario. And this, Sylphiel decided, seeing Lina was taking feeble and shallow breaths, was it.

Sylphiel placed her hands over Lina's heart, as she had once so very long ago, and reached deep within herself for the power that lay there in reserve. Drawing it forth, she focused her thoughts, her gaze, her very soul on the redhead in her husband's arms. "Lend me strength…" she whispered, and began to cast a spell that she hadn't cast for almost seven years.

Amelia watched, her heart in her throat, as Sylphiel began to cast a spell that she could only barely recognize, could only vaguely sense. This was Holy magic, worked on the last vestiges of the Flare Dragon Cepheid. This was magic that she'd tried to cast herself once upon a time, a spell that she'd desperately tried over and over to cast. She hadn't been completely honest with Lina that time. She'd let Lina think that she hadn't cast the resurrection spell on Zelgadis because it had been bad… timing. The truth was that the spell was outside of Amelia's scope. Her magic was too Shamanistic in nature.

Gourry felt the energy draining from him, felt an emptiness in his arms and legs. It felt as if they were growing heavier, as if he were trying to lift something insanely heavy… even though he was only sitting there with Lina's head cradled in his hands. He lifted his blue gaze to his wife, saw that she was casting something, saw her whole being seem to be focused on her hands above Lina's heart. And he realized it in moments.

Sylphiel was casting the Resurrection spell on Lina, borrowing the life-force from all who were nearby. He could see Amelia struggling to stay on her knees, saw the servant-girl who had been by the door fall to her knees with a bewildered gasp.

The last time that Sylphiel had cast Resurrection, had been on Lina, and they had been below the Holy Tree Flagoon. This time, they were in the Royal Palace of Saillune. The sheer proximity of the Sword of Light boosted the casting, but it wasn't like last time. Sylphiel could only barely feel the draw, the life-forces swirling. She could only almost see them converge and spill over the frail redhead. "Holy Cepheid… lend thy strength to Miss Lina!"

Time seemed to stretch, the space between heartbeats lengthening until Amelia wanted to scream with no breath. Darkness tingled on the edge of her awareness, a direct contrast to the brilliance that burst forth from Sylphiel's hands and cascaded through the room, obliterating everything from sight.

Lina Inverse Greywords sat up with a sharp gasp, crimson eyes wide. As she did so, Sylphiel sagged sideways, worn beyond reckoning, power fading as fast as awareness. With Lina safe, she could rest. With Lina safe… Sylphiel's eyes closed and she sank into an exhausted sleep.

"What the…?" Lina asked, looking around in confusion. She wasn't sure where she was, but it wasn't where she'd been. She had a splitting headache and she couldn't understand why Gourry, Sylphiel, Amelia, and a servant girl were all sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.

_Unless… Jedah must have come… and he's taking things up with Zelgadis! I have to stop them! They can't fight in Saillune! They'll destroy the city!_ Lina got to her feet, stumbling in surprise. She felt so weak… what in the world had Jedah cast on everyone? Some sort of high-level sleep spell? A flicker of magic sense flared and she turned to look. They were down that hall, probably on the other side of that door way down there.

_All right, that's it. Time to settle things once and for all. No matter which way this ends up, I'm not giving up on Zelgadis, and I won't let Jedah do anything stupid. He may be a Mazoku, but whatever Zelgadis did to Xellos can probably be done again to Jedah. And while he may be a Mazoku, may be the son of the Greater Beast… he's a friend. And I can't let anything happen to him._

With a singular strength of will that she'd used before when things came down to the line, Lina began to walk down the hallway, back the way that she'd been carried unknowingly, back to the room where a showdown was taking place.

Back to Zelgadis and Jedah.

Back to what probably could be the end.


	58. Chapter 58

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 58

What happened next was beyond anything that either Jedah or Zelgadis could have ever anticipated. Naga, boisterous, bossy, over-posing Naga, stalked back into the room, marched across the proverbial line in the carpet and grabbed both Mazoku by the ears.

Left hand snagged Jedah, right hand snagged Zelgadis, and Naga yanked them both so hard that they had no chance to do anything but to bend to her, startled. "Listen up, you two," she hissed, fangs showing and eyes brilliant with anger. "I don't care who or what you are: Hellmaster, Avatar, two spoiled brats fighting over a toy, or just two Mazoku who have it out for each other, you take it somewhere else than my city!"

It was absolutely and completely absurd.

And for about thirty seconds, it worked.

Zelgadis shifted first, phasing out of Naga's grasp, moving backwards so fast that she lost sight of him and reflexively released Jedah in her attempt to find Zelgadis again. That gave Jedah the chance to move, to get out of her reach and move opposite Zelgadis once more. He chose to ignore the angry objection of the older princess of Saillune, instead looking to Zelgadis with a mocking smile.

"Perhaps we should do as the lady says, Zelgadis. If you want to fight me, you'll have to call me out, have to force me to draw my full power to command. Would you dare, do that, knowing that it would destroy Saillune? Knowing that it would shatter the lives of everyone here? Naga, Gourry, Amelia, Sylphiel…" he couldn't name Lina. As far as he knew, she was dead; he'd seen her chest fall still with his own eyes. No mortal could live without breath in their lungs.

"You taunt me as if I cared, Jedah Metallium. I am Mazoku: I have no heart, nothing with which I could to try to care. They called me the heartless mystical swordsman, did you know that? In all of those years that you watched me, it didn't ever occur that they might be right, did it?" Zelgadis retorted, his voice as flat as it had been once upon a memory, magic deepening, darkening like a pool of water when the murky bottom was stirred up by a hand reaching down into the black depths. He knew precisely what to do now; he could sense the magic running through his blood, as if it were more than simply a part of him. He didn't need to rely on the bound magic like Shamanism any longer. He was magic. All he had to do was think it and it would be done.

Jedah suddenly felt very old. "Zelgadis, will you listen to reason for once?" He lifted his hand to his forehead, sighing. "Mazoku aren't what you think they are. We care, we love… we have wants and needs, longings and desires." He looked at Zelgadis and then he moved. It took only moments, but before Naga could blink, Jedah had placed both hands on Zelgadis' cheeks. He could feel the other stiffen under his grasp, but he had to do this, had to take this one momentary chance. _Hear me, Zelgadis._ He bent his head, closing his eyes, resting his forehead on Zelgadis'.

It was as if a different darkness opened from within/underneath/behind him. Zelgadis was locked in place, he couldn't move, couldn't pull away from Jedah. Thoughts, feelings, images flowed into him, taking him away from his physical, sweeping over him and turning him over and over, tumbling him into a darkness that felt so oddly… brilliant.

_Hear me, Zelgadis._ Jedah's thought lanced through that brilliant darkness, leaving behind itself a path that glittered with the same ice blue as Jedah's eyes. And in that brilliant path, Zelgadis could see it all. He saw Jedah as a youth, laughing and playing just as if he had been a normal child. He saw the boy learning who and what he was, learning the path he was to take. He saw the young man out in the early days of the world, entranced by another with such promise and potential. He saw the smiles, the love, saw Jedah presenting the other to his mother for her approval; saw the kiss that sealed the Mazoku Pact. He saw the creation of the Mazoku that Xellos would become; saw the fire and the passion shared by the two of them. Fire. Passion. Love. It started to glimmer, the fragment of understanding, and the barest glimpse of Truth.

Naga froze, her stomach flipping. For a moment, she'd thought that Jedah was going to kiss Zelgadis, and she really didn't think that she could handle that. Not that she had anything against guys kissing guys, mind… hey, if they liked it, no problem. It was just that on top of that whole 'little brother' image that Jedah had been projecting, it just creeped her out.

She stood and watched as they stood like two statues locked in a bizarre embrace. Jedah's hands on Zelgadis' cheeks, Zelgadis' hands up and together as if to throw a spell into Jedah's heart at close range. If Zelgadis did cast something… would Jedah survive it at that close?

It was a moot worry, though she didn't quite know it yet.

The door that Naga had locked was suddenly blown off of its hinges, a cloud of dust and smoke swirling darkly for a moment before it began to dissipate, revealing a shadowy figure in the heart of the explosion. It was a force of power that Naga had given up for gone, a force that broke the concentration of both Mazoku in the room and brought silence crashing down along with the last bits of the door.

Lina Inverse Greywords lifted her head to look across the room. She didn't look at Naga. She didn't look at Jedah. She looked, instead, to Zelgadis, to those dark sapphire blue eyes, and she squared her shoulders. She was pale, drawn, she looked as if she might collapse at any moment, but she was living, breathing, and very, _very_ pissed off.


	59. Chapter 59

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 59

The first person to pick up their head was Gourry. He was disoriented for a moment, but memory flickered and he looked to where he recalled cradling Lina. "Lina!"

She was gone.

Frowning, Gourry looked around, gaze falling to the servant girl who was starting to stir. He looked beside him, Sylphiel and Amelia were still unconscious, but when he nudged Amelia, she muttered something and shifted away from him. If they were only sleeping, he could handle that. But what he really wanted to know was where Lina was.

The loud explosion down at the far end of the hallway did two things.

First, it told him where Lina was.

Secondly, it woke Amelia from her stupor, and she sat up, blinking and lifting a hand to rub at her eyes. "Eh…. What happened?" She looked around, nearly as bewildered as Gourry had been, and then she noticed Sylphiel leaned up against her. "Oh! Sylphiel! Hey… wake up! I think it worked! Either Lina got up, or someone came and got her!"

"By that explosion back there, I think it's Lina," Gourry said quietly, causing the younger princess to turn her head to him. "My best guess is that she just blew a door off of its hinges."

Amelia had missed the distinctive sound of wood blasted into a trillion little splinters, but she nodded knowingly. Lina rarely, if ever, allowed closed doors to prevent her from getting to the other side of them. Wood, stone, metal, it all blasted the same in the end, the only thing that differed was the spell that Lina chose to use.

That varied on how Lina was feeling.

Sylphiel twitched, opening her eyes with a soft mumbled query. "Gourry, dear?" She put her hand out, feeling his warm grip and she turned to look to him with a smile. "I did it… Lina?" She sounded as if she expected that the sorceress should have still been there to answer her. It surprised her to see that she wasn't. "Where… where did she go?"

Gourry pointed down the hall, his action accentuated by another loud bang. "That way." By his guess, Lina was keeping the magic small, sticking to the little stuff. It could be a good thing, meaning that she wasn't that upset by whatever she'd encountered. Then again, it could be a bad thing, given that Sylphiel had just brought her back from the near-dead. Lina might not have the energy for much more than the basics.

It was Amelia who got worried. "She's fireballing the Palace!" The petite shaman got to her feet and began to run for the room beyond the cloud of dust and smoke that was rolling out from the other end of the hall.

Not much time passed before Sylphiel and Gourry were running along behind her.

Naga gasped Lina's name, inordinately pleased to see the redhead, though a bit concerned for the doorway that had just been blasted apart. "You're alive!" Part of her wanted to move to Lina's side and hug the woman that had been her companion once upon a time. The more rational part of her knew that if she tried it, she'd be fried where she stood.

"Lina!" Jedah grinned brightly, relief washing over the older Mazoku. "I wasn't sure that you'd made it! This is great, Zelgadis! Lina's okay; we can work this out rationally!" He turned to look brightly to Zelgadis, in the hopes that the appearance of Lina would have offset the anger that he could sense building in the other man.

Zelgadis' answer was to kick off something similar to a fireball in Jedah's face. It pushed Jedah backwards into the far wall with a bang, dust and smoke that had only just settled once more kicked into the air. "Lina was caught in my spell, caught in the trap that I had set for you. She's mortal, there's no way that she would have survived that. You and I both know it, Jedah."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that I was dead," Lina remarked, amazingly calm for the truth that had come to her. Dead by Zelgadis' hand, her husband… it cut far deeper into the redhead than she wanted to acknowledge, let alone admit. "Sylphiel is pretty handy in a pinch like that."

The group arriving in the doorway was relieved to hear Lina's voice, though the words chilled Amelia. Lina knew who it was that had cast the spell that had hurt her, though she probably didn't know who Jedah was. "Lina! Be careful! Jedah's not who you think he is!" Amelia called into the room.

Crimson eyes shifted to Jedah for a moment, watching the illusion of youth pick himself up from the floor where he'd fallen after landing on the wall. "Yeah, I know. He's a high-ranking Mazoku, the son of the Greater Beast. Yeah, yeah, tell me something I didn't force out of him earlier." Lina turned back to look to Zelgadis, watching as the Mazoku faltered and stepped backwards, looking at her in confusion.

"What I don't know is who you are. You aren't the man that I married, you aren't the man that stood in the clearing of trees and held me, telling me that he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me. You aren't the man who defended me, even when I wasn't there, when you didn't know where I was." Tears sparkled in those crimson eyes, and Lina gave her head an angry shake. "Who are you?"

Before Amelia could push her way into the room, Zelgadis took a step backwards, confusion and pain flickering across his eyes, the sapphire taking on a diamond edge for a moment before lightening to an aquamarine. Lina was right, he wasn't that man any longer. But he didn't know who he was. He didn't know what he was. Confusion tore through him, taking the place of the knowledge that he'd had only moments ago, and with a cry of anguish that tore at the hearts of all in the room, he vanished.


	60. Chapter 60

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 60

Lina would have fallen to her knees, but for the strong arms of Gourry catching her. For a moment, there wasn't a thought of who was married to whom and what feelings were for anyone. For a moment, Lina just clung to Gourry and shook like she hadn't shaken since he'd caught her years ago. For a moment, he wasn't sure that she was going to let go of him and stand on her own two feet.

But moments pass, as they must, and Lina gathered herself slowly, putting her weight first on one foot, then the other, finally pulling away from Gourry with a shaky little murmur of thanks.

And then, Jedah made a mistake: he moved towards Lina.

Gourry spun, the Sword of Light brilliant in his hands, a fiercely protective glare in his blue eyes. "Leave her alone, Jedah. Don't you think that you've done enough damage here? Get out of here, go find Xellos and cause chaos and havoc somewhere else. Before I change my mind again and finish what I didn't do."

The threat was clear: Gourry wouldn't hold back from destroying Jedah again.

Jedah was hurt; Lina could see it in his eyes. She didn't understand the antipathy she felt from everyone, the protective reaction from Gourry, Sylphiel's hand on her arm holding her back. Even Amelia looked as if she didn't care for Jedah, and Lina clearly recalled the younger princess kissing the youth at one time.

The only one who looked sorry for Jedah was Naga. And Lina didn't understand. "What's going on… Jedah?" As she watched, Jedah's appearance changed, he looked older, his power feeling so very much deeper and darker than she'd thought possible. He waved a dismissive hand, giving Gourry a glance.

"That isn't going to be necessary, Gourry." Even Jedah's voice had changed. It was silken, as deep as his power, the voice of a Mazoku capable of things beyond human conceptualization. It was the same voice that Cassandra had heard before he'd used her own power to turn against her and destroy her. "Lina, there is one last thing that all of you need to know. There is one last detail, one last thing that I didn't tell any of you, but will finally have to, though I regret both that it is, and that I have to tell it."

Gourry snorted, for he didn't believe that Mazoku could feel, could regret.

Jedah's winter blue eyes settled not on Gourry, but Lina, offering the faintest of apologetic smiles so very much like the one Zelgadis sometimes wore. "I am Jedah Greywords Metallium, son of Juuou. I am he who holds sway over life and death, Lord of the Underworld, _Jedaikun._ Hellmaster."

Silence fell in the room, and Lina stared at the breathtakingly stunning Mazoku Lord before her. Hellmaster. How in the Hell had she missed it? "Jedaikun," she echoed, looking at the truth, the full truth in front of her, and at length, shaking her head. "Fine, Hellmaster. So you replaced Phibby. I can deal with that." The change in her was instantaneous as she clenched her fist and glared at him. "What I can't deal with is the thought that you're using us as pawns in a game."

Jedah blinked, ice blue eyes suddenly wide and surprised as he stepped backwards from Lina and focused a very startled gaze on her. "I'm not! Lina… this is anything but me playing games!" He paused, sighing, his shoulders drooping and looking down and away from her, closing his eyes and speaking quietly. "I swore myself to you, Lina. The command of Hellmaster is but yours to speak it. What you will, I will do."

Silence fell in the room, a long and heavy silence that reminded Amelia of the silence that had fallen when Gourry had held the Sword of Light over Jedah's head and considered ending it all right there. He hadn't, and she hadn't figured out why, but for some reason it had pleased her. She tried not to think about that kiss, tried not to think about the lazy days spent laughing at Jedah's side… because all the while, he'd been Hellmaster. He'd hidden his true nature, seemed nothing more than a rambunctious youth who was in love with life. And there he was, standing there, a being of such great power, such immense evil…

But there in his shadow was the youth he'd been. Amelia could suddenly see it, finally understood the dichotomy of Mazoku. She couldn't say that it made everything good, couldn't remotely accept carte blanche what he purported as truth. But the pain that she saw in his stance mirrored the pain that she had seen in Zelgadis, the pain that she had seen in the copy of the man that had brought them all together in Sairaag. "I believe him, Lina."

Amelia's voice shattered the silence, caused Naga to look over to her sister with abject amazement, brought Sylphiel's world crashing down around her head, and left Gourry wondering if his own brand of insanity had finally taken another victim. Only Lina and Jedah seemed unaffected, and that was because Lina had stepped forwards, a strangely calm figure with sharp resolution etched into her eyes. "Take me to him, Jedah. I don't care how, I don't care what may happen. Take me to Zelgadis."

Jedah lifted his head, looked to her for a moment, and then nodded slightly, lifting a hand to offer it to Lina. "As you will it, Lina." His fingers touched hers, and there was a buildup, a swell of magical power that crested into a furious brilliance, making everyone in the room shield their eyes and look away. It swept Lina into Jedah's embrace, pulled them both out of the Palace, out of Saillune, out off almost as far as the Sea of Chaos, and then drew them back to the world, back into the reality of the cold ruins of a stone tower lost in a battle that Lina recalled all too well.

It all came back to Ambervale.

And Rezo's Tower.


	61. Chapter 61

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 61

Darkness filled the room, though that wasn't any trouble. A thought brought a sphere of light to command, and thusly equipped with illumination, the figure that had appeared in the rubble began to walk about, turning this way and that, trying to spot anything worth the mentioning.

He walked through the archway through which he'd been seen before, casually dismissing the wards with a gesture. He didn't need to make the gesture, but it pleased him to do it, so he did.

The room here looked as if it had been deliberately set up to resemble the ruins of Ambervale, but the magic was missing; the imprint of self that all casters left behind wasn't there. It was no more than an elaborate illusion, and he could see through it with little effort. With a wave of his hand, Xellos reduced the impression of Ambervale to so much dust. He was more concerned with the rooms to the side, the places where he could sense that something was within, something that was supposed to remain a secret.

But secrets were Xellos' lifeblood.

He strode across into the hallway, noting with distaste the ruin and desolation. My, but Cassandra had set herself up in quite the hovel, hadn't she? And she'd what, claimed herself as subordinate of Deep Sea Dolphin? How… pathetic. Just what the world needed, another half-insane Mazoku parading around, claiming to be a General or a Priest of one Mazoku Lord or another. It was a disgrace, truly. Mazoku just weren't what they used to be.

They used to be powerful beings, creatures that inspired fear, awe, admiration and desire. Now they were often reduced to the status of floor show, comic relief from the wear and cares of the world. It was disgraceful.

Like he was one to talk.

Xellos moseyed along, poking his head into rooms here and there, his magic occasionally catching the hint of something familiar, a touch of Zelgadis' magic over there… a hint of the shaman in here… Oh, he knew what he was looking for. He was looking for traces of whatever Cassandra had done to Zelgadis. He paused in the doorway of a room that was dark, a room that not only smelled of magic, but held a lingering physical scent as well. A thought sent his ball of light into the room, and his open eyes narrowed at what he saw.

A hard metal table stood a bit more than waist-high, viciously large and heavy chains hanging from it, chains with cuffs that had clearly been enchanted to hold even the most difficult of victims. Blood had pooled on the table, a thick red glint in the dull glow of his light. It wasn't hard to envision what Cassandra had done. It wasn't hard at all. Not with what was presented before him.

Xellos lifted his head, his closed eyes seeing everything, and he found that he wished they didn't. He reached out, touching the mental link that Jedah had restored. _Jedah, you need to see this._

The reply came fast, sharp, almost immediate, tinted with the power that Jedah called his own. _Can it wait? I'm… busy._ Busy had been what he was when another disaster had hit, and he'd thought the word with minor trepidation.

_No,_ Xellos sighed mentally, _I'm afraid it can't. _He hated this, hated to be so cryptic, but to give words to what he was seeing would be to cheapen it, to reduce it to something less than the epiphany it was. He walked up to the table, opening his eyes once more and reaching out to put his fingers lightly on the object that had suddenly caught his attention.

It was warm, strangely so, as if it held a light within itself that was obscured by darkness. He didn't dare pick it up, no, that wasn't for him to do, wasn't for him to even touch when it came down to it. But he'd needed to touch it to verify what he saw.

Jedah solidified behind Xellos, but he wasn't alone. Lina was with him. Lina, fire and fury embodied, turned to ice at the room she saw. She felt him all around the room, felt Zelgadis, heard his echoes of pain. It threatened to overwhelm her until Jedah put a steadying hand on her shoulder and sealed away some of the sensations.

Xellos turned, his fingers slipping away from the object, and he took two steps backwards, allowing Jedah to see what it was that been so important as to draw them here. Color drained from Jedah's face, and he spun around, catching Lina into a hard embrace to prevent her from seeing what was resting on the table. "_Xellos_!" He rasped, his voice harsh and dry.

Lina struggled against Jedah, but he was far stronger than she was. What in the name of the Lord of Nightmares had made Jedah, Hellmaster react like that? She wanted to see, she needed to see. It had something to do with Zelgadis, and she knew it. She had to see.

_I didn't know she was with you,_ Xellos replied privately. _If I had known…_ _I would have warned you. But that's-_

_I know what that is!_ Jedah's snapped reply cut Xellos off, and he winced as Lina slammed her foot down on his. _She was bound to find out sooner or later. I just wish it had been later, when I'd had a chance to- oof!_ Lina had driven her head into his chin, forcing him to release her.

Once again, Lina Inverse Greywords tore around from behind Jedah to discover something very much not what she wanted to confront. This time, admittedly, she was prepared for something far worse, for she'd heard the echoes of pain, seen the chains and the blood before Jedah had grabbed her.

But she hadn't seen the object on the table. She hadn't seen the crystal torn away from the man that she had loved. It hadn't made any sense to her until the light of her own spell caused the gem to burst into fiery glittery life.


	62. Chapter 62

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 62

Careful and quiet steps brought Lina to the table, and the two Mazoku watched warily as she reached out and took the gemstone into both hands, carefully cradling it as she brought it close to her heart. To Jedah's amazement, it began to glow from within, answered by the gem at her throat. "Is that…?"

Crimson eyes lifted from the larger stone and Lina turned to look to the clear blue eyes. "It is. This stone at my neck is what he gave you to bring to me. They're connected…"

"_Heart of Darkness_," Xellos whispered softly, eyes open and clear as he regarded the glittering gems, sensing the breadth of power within them. "Cassandra did this to him. She managed to break him."

"I was too kind," Jedah said bitterly, the emotion closing his throat, making him turn away from the image of the frail redhead cradling the gemstone that he somehow knew was Zelgadis' heart. He understood so much now, how without this part of himself, Zelgadis was bound to fail at understanding. _What was she trying to do? Take it for herself? Take his power through this? _He didn't have those answers, and because he had erased Cassandra from the Four Worlds, he never would have them.

A sound made Jedah turn, and he saw Lina crumple, saw her fold around the gemstone and sink to the floor. Wracking sobs overtook her, and he sensed Xellos drawing back, uncertain what he ought to do.

With bitter pain in his own heart, Jedah moved to Lina, knelt beside her and took her into his arms. He could feel her pain, feel her anguish, but it was also his own, as if they were sharing the same linked sensations. Tears threatened his own eyes, and he felt like tearing the building down, felt like indulging in rampant and pointless destruction.

But that wouldn't bring any of this to a close, wouldn't bring Zelgadis back, wouldn't replace the emptiness that he knew had taken over the place that had been the other's heart. "Lina…" Jedah whispered, his voice breaking with the strain of trying not to fall apart himself. "I promise you… we'll get him back. Whatever it takes, however I have to. I'll help you." He could feel Xellos' incredulous gaze settle on him, and he lifted his head to look at Xellos.

_Part of this is my fault, Xellos. I should have seen this long ago. I had the chance to fix what I broke and I let it be, foolishly thinking that it would work out for the best._ Oh, how bitter did the truth taste! He could start to understand why Xellos preferred to avoid cut and dry whenever possible.

Xellos frowned, ill at ease with the situation. Jedah was acting too human, too contaminated, too… he understood with frightening clarity. Lina was cradling the Heart, and Jedah was touching Lina. The Heart drew on the darkness within those close to it, emphasizing it and turning it into an echo of its own pain from being separated from Zelgadis. But how could he… a flicker of his magic subtly shifted the foundations of the building, and he was rewarded with an ominous rumble. "It isn't safe here. We should move on…" He put his hand out to Jedah, quietly hoping that the bait would be easily taken.

"Yes…" Jedah reached out, pausing for a moment as Lina hiccupped, and then he took Xellos' hand, pulling himself to his feet, leaving Lina seated on the floor to collect herself

With his free hand, Xellos offered Lina a small cloth to wrap the gem into. "Here, use this to protect the Heart." He watched as she wrapped the stone in the purple silk, and nodded faintly to Jedah as he saw the realization cascade over the blue eyes. _That stone is dangerous. And without it, Zelgadis is even more dangerous._

"I want to go back," Lina's voice was quiet, though there was no mistaking it as anything other than the order that it was. "Take me back to Saillune, Jedah." She looked up at Jedah, a frail and pale figure with wild hair and a tearstained face. She hardly looked anything akin to the woman who had faced him down not too long ago.

"As you will it, Lina," Jedah murmured, offering her his hand again, just as he had in Saillune. But this time, she resisted his embrace, a coldness settling over her as they moved through the shifting of planes back to the Palace.

The little group was still in the hallway near the room where they had watched Lina vanish with Jedah, and so they were there to see him bring her back, were witness to Lina turn to him, lean up to whisper something into his ear and kiss his cheek. They watched her walk past him, moving towards the staircase that would lead her to the upper floor where her own room was. They saw the strange glowing gem nestled in purple silk in her hands; they saw the tearstains and the careful way in which she moved.

Naga turned back in time to see Xellos fade into existence behind Jedah, watched him pull Jedah backwards into the shadows, and watched them both vanish. When she turned back, she saw that the others had moved to follow Lina. She ran to catch up, ran to find out what Lina was carrying.

He was tired. Cepheid, he was tired… though that didn't come close to expressing how soul-deep it went. Backwards he floated, drawing a blanket of Astral about him and simply existing there for a moment, reduced to his true form of pure energy.

_What do we do now?_ Asked the other who was there with him, equally tired, though perhaps not as deeply.

_We wait. We wait for her to make her choice._

Lina's last words had been whispered so softly.

"I need time, Jedah."

And though he was loathe to admit it, he did too.

----------

The story continues in Darkest Before Dawn...


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